VIRGINIA BEACH -- A Shenandoah University women's basketball team riding momentum after back-to-back victories over Bridgewater College and Washington and Lee University certainly caught the attention of the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins.
That was important since the Marlins posted an 82-64 win over the Hornets earlier in the season and could have been looking past Tuesday's game to Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference showdown with league-leading Guilford College.
But, the Marlins' focus was definitely on Shenandoah in the rematch at the Jane P. Batten Student Center, where Virginia Wesleyan's problem-causing defense set the tone of the game early and guided the host team to a sweep of the Hornets with a 59-40 ODAC win.
Virginia Wesleyan (11-7, 6-3 ODAC), ranked No. 14 nationally in turnover margin per game, forcing opponents into an average of 8.94 more than the Marlins every outing, pressured Shenandoah (8-10, 4-5) into 28 miscues on the Donald M. Forsyth Court. VWC turned the ball over 15 times.
The Hornets from Winchester turned the ball over 17 times in the first half and managed only 12 points, scoring only one field goal in the first 10 minutes. Virginia Wesleyan led 30-12 at halftime and dominated play thereafter. The Marlins pushed out to a 27 point lead twice in the second half, before Shenandoah cut the spread to 16 with 3:27 remaining to be played.
VWC head coach Stephany Dunmyer turned to her bench early and utilized 12 players overall. Ten Marlins scored, led by sophomore Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) with a game-high 14 points. Sophomore Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) added 10 points.
Both teams hit the boards for 41 rebounds each, with VWC led by sophomore Kerri-Leanne Taylor (Stockport, England/The Hill School (Pa.) with seven and senior Rachael Miller (Sterling/Park View) with five. JuniorSymonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) led the Marlins with four steals.
Nicole Gilbertson (Etters, Pa./Trinity), a 6-foot-1 senior forward, led Shenandoah with a double-double, 10 points and 10 rebounds. Holly Chittenden (Boyds, Md./Poolesville) finished with seven rebounds and Gabrielle Clarke (Pasadena, Md./Mount de Sales) and Imani Heggins (Chesapeake/Great Bridge) had six each. Heggins also scored eight points for the Hornets.
Virginia Wesleyan plays again on Saturday Jan, 26, in Greensboro, N.C. against the host Quakers of Guilford. Game-time is 2 p.m. Guilford slipped by the Marlins 54-50 in the first meeting of the season in December.
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