VIRGINIA BEACH -- Lynchburg College's women's basketball Hornets got a taste of Virginia Wesleyan's "DQ" Tuesday and didn't care for it at all.

That's nothing about "Dairy Queen" either, but more about defensive quickness that helped propel the host Marlins into an early lead and frustrate the Hornets for most of the game.

Virginia Wesleyan used tight defensive play and an alert offensive attack to help post an impressive 70-52 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

Lynchburg (2-3, 1-1) entered the game with three Hornets averaging double-figure scoring, but could not get them scoring in unison against the VWC defense. While the Hornets struggled, the Marlins (4-1, 2-0) followed the lead of juniorsAndrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) and Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) to take an early 10-point lead and stretch it to 22 points.  Junior Kerri Taylor (Stockport, England/The Hill School, Pa.) knocked down one of the Marlins' five first-half triples to give VWC a 32-10 lead with 2:46 remaining before halftime.

It was one of "those" nights for Lynchburg, the ODAC's preseason No. 3 team, as the Hornets could not get the offense on track in the first half.  They hit only 4-of-21 field goal attempts, missed all five triple attempts, recorded only one assist, and turned the ball over 13 times.

Virginia Wesleyan, tagged No. 4 in the preseason poll, hit 14 field goals in the half, including five triples, and helped its cause by outrebounding the taller Hornets 25-16 in the half. Five-foot-seven senior Katie Tassa (Bristow/Manassas Osbourn Park) and 5-6 Glasco with eight boards each. Six-foot Chaney Forbush (Clifton, Va./Centreville) led Lynchburg with five.

VWC's first-half dominance helped the Marlins to take a 39-14 lead into the break. The Marlins mantained at least a 20-point spread through the first 10 minutes of the second half, but lost the handle briefly on the big lead with about nine minutes to play.  The Marlins managed only four shots in the next three minutes, and turned the ball over three times, and Lynchburg capitalized.

Charmaine Hairston (Rocky Mount, Va./Franklin County) hit a three-pointer to spark a 14-4 run for the Hornets, cutting the VWC lead to 11 points after Shannon Allan (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley) hit a jumper with 5:25 remaining to be played. It was as close as Lynchburg would get however, as sophomore Cassie Conley (New Market/Stonewall Jackson) hit a jumper to put Virginia Wesleyan back on track and the Marlins outscored the Hornets 11-4 in the final four minutes to produce the final 18-point margin of victory.

The Marlins, who played once again without starters Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) andNancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) due to injuries, out-rebounded Lynchburg overall, 42-36, led by career-high efforts by Glasco with 15 and Tassa with 11. Glasco also nailed 8-of-14 field goal attempts en route to a career-high 18 points, but VWC's high scoring honors went to Paphites with 22 points.  She hit 7-of-14 fielders and 6-of-7 free throws, pulled down six rebounds, dished out a game-high six assists, blocked two shots, and had a game-high three steals.

Sophomore Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) finished with 10 points for the Marlins and Tassa contributed with nine points and four assists.

Hairston led Lynchburg with 15 points, followed by Sammi Goldsmith (Jamestown, N.C./Bishop McGuinness) with 11, and Forbush and Allan with 10 each.  Forbush also topped Hornet rebounders with 15.  Goldsmith recorded five assists.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Sunday, Dec. 1, hosting Marymount University at 3 p.m.

--AMDG--