The Eastern Mennonite Royals women’s basketball team brought the heat to Yoder arena on Saturday, Nov. 13, when the Royals took on the Lancaster Bible Chargers. The Royals got on the board first with a shot from first-year Trinity Price. The Royals and Chargers would exchange baskets in the first quarter until the Royals went on an 8-0 run, taking the lead to 17-13 in the Royals’ favor at the end of the first quarter. When the second quarter began it was the Royals the whole period. They dominated on both ends of the court. The Royals only gave up nine points in the quarter while also putting up twenty points, shooting 50% from the field. The impressive quarter by the Royals gave them a solid 37-22 lead going into halftime. Coming out of the half the Royals continued to push it on the offensive end and ultimately pushed the lead to 19. In the last minute of the third quarter, Lancaster Bible put on a small run of their own to close out the period to still trail the Royals by 15. The Chargers came out in the fourth quarter trying to mount a comeback by putting up a quick six points, but the Royals locked in and sealed the deal. The Royals won by a final score of 76-62. The Royals had 4 out of their 5 starters in double figures while also shooting 45% from the field and from three-point land. With the win, the Royals improve to 2-1 on the young season. 

Head coach Jenny Posey saw some positives come from her young team against the Chargers. “In both of our games and scrimmages, we’ve had some struggles taking care of the baseball. It was so encouraging to see us turn that around and only have 14 turnovers on Saturday. We also have some young players in First-years Mya Hamlet, Trinity Price, and Brii Redfearn, who are proving to be really dynamic. We’ve also been extremely pleased to see the strong leadership and play from senior Constance Komara,” said Posey. Having a quick turnaround coming off a loss on Thursday there were some things that were improved by the Royals. “After our loss on Thursday, we knew it would be a quick turnaround and had to focus on some of the smaller details. We spent Friday really fine-tuning some of our offenses and looking at various options. We definitely saw this play out in our improved scoring output,” said Posey.

For first-year Mya Hamlet, has had a great start to her college career. She has scored double digits in all three games and twenty or more in two out of the three games on the season.  For Hamlet, having confidence has been the key to the fast start for her on the offensive end. “I think the key to my fast start on offense is having confidence. When I was in high school, I didn’t shoot the ball much because I never had confidence that it would go in. Now after starting college basketball, I have to believe in myself to try to be an all-around scorer and not just someone who would rather drive to the basket. I just had to trust myself and the ability to score the basketball,” said Hamlet. Even with Hamlet seeming to adjust to the college game well so far there is still a difference between the high school game and the college game for Hamlet. “I think the biggest adjustment from high school to college is that just about everybody out there playing was the better girls on their high school team. There is now good competition, and you have to work your butt off every game to come out with a win. Nothing is given in college basketball, everything is earned.”