HARRIONSBURG, Va. -- Brittany Glasco took care of history 39 seconds into the second half of Saturday's women's basketball game at Eastern Mennonite University.
The Virginia Wesleyan College senior drilled through a triple with 19:21 showing, increasing her career point total to 1,000 points, marking her as the 19th woman in Marlin women's basketball history to hit the lofty scoring plateau. Tonia Jones was the last VWC woman to enter the 1,000 Point Club, compiling her points from 2006 through 2010.
With the scoring accomplishment out of the way, Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) went on to score 10 points in the half, finishing with 20 overall, but it wasn't enough to help derail the Old Dominion Athletic Conference-leading Royals. Eastern Mennonite took control in the final three minutes of the game to post a hard-fought 82-74 victory.
EMU (15-3, 9-1), which stretched a home-court winning streak to 27 consecutive games, outscored Virginia Wesleyan 12-7 in the final three minutes to help pull out the win. VWC trailed only 72-67, before Alisa Brown (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park) scored seven unanswered points to help push the Royals into a 79-67 lead with 58 seconds remaining.
Senior Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) drilled through VWC's 14th triple of the game to pull the Marlins within a 79-70 score with 53 seconds remaining to be played, but the Royals used the free throw line for lead-padding points in the final seconds.
Glasco added a solid rebounding effort to her big day of scoring, as she led the Marlins with nine boards, increasing her career total to 500. She becomes only the 13th woman in VWC history to record 500+ rebounds and the first since Maggie Smith compiled 591 from 2006-10. Glasco is only the eight VWC woman to score 1,000 points and record 500 rebounds in a career.
Glasco's effort was part of an impressive afternoon for Virginia Wesleyan, which included tying a program record for triples made by knocking down 14 against the Royals. Junior Cassie Conley (New Market/Stonewall Jackson), Paphites, and Glasco all hit three and senior Kerri Taylor (Stockport, England/Pottstown, Pa. The Hill School) nailed two. That total tied the record of 14 set against Roanoke College and tied four days later against Lynchburg College, both in 2013.
VWC was consistent with the triples, hitting seven in each half to help keep the Marlins in contention for most of the contest. There were six lead changes in the first half, with the final one favoring the Marlins. Sophomore Crystal Strother (Accokeek, Md./Brandywine Gwynn Park) hit a trey to give VWC a 30-27 lead with 8:37 on the clock.
Eastern Mennonite trailed the remainder of the half, falling behind 40-32 entering the final two minutes. But, Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite), Shakeerah Sykes (Dumfries, Va./Forest Park), and Brown combined to pull the host team back, to trail just 40-37 at halftime.
Competition remained tight deep into the second half, which included seven lead changes in the first nine minutes. A Skyes layup with 11:32 remaining in the game gave the lead to EMU for good, but Virginia Wesleyan kept the score tight with key scoring. A Conley triple pulled the Marlins within a 66-63 score with 6:24 on the clock, but VWC could not catch the Royals the rest of the way.
Paphites emerged with 13 points for the Marlin, followed by Conley with nine, the latter all in the second half. Senior Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) tallied eight points, all in the first half. VWC played alertly with the ball from start-to-finish, producing 21 assists on 28 baskets made. Junior Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) led that effort with five.
Rheninheimer led EMU with 23 points, hitting 10-of-20 field goal attempts, followed by Skyes with 21 points. She hit 10-of-15 attempts. Brown finished with 15 points. Sykes led EMU rebounding with 10.
Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Tuesday, Feb. 3, hosting the Yellow Jackets of Randolph-Macon College in ODAC action beginning at 7 o.m. in the Jane P. Batten Student Center.
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