FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's 67-52 loss to perennial power Maryville College on Sunday in Methodist University's Turkey Shootout certainly wasn't due to lack of effort.
In fact, the Marlins (3-2) gave the Scots (3-1) all the competition they wanted from buzzer-to-buzzer.
There was just one glaring difference...who hit and who didn't. Unfortunately for VWC, it was another cold day in Methodist's March F. Riddle Center where the Marlin connected on just 28% from the field. That included a frigid 11% showing from three-point range where the Marlins hit just three of 26 long-range attempts. VWC connected on only 25% from the field in Saturday's 73-60 loss to Georgia's Lagrange College.
Maryville, which has won six Great South Athletic Conference tournament titles and qualified for the NCAA tournament eight times, all in the past 10 years, hit 44% from the field overall, including 53% from three-point range. The Scots hit eight triples overall, but did not begin to create any distance between themselves and the Marlins until Janell Menard (Loudon, Tenn./Loudon) nailed three consecutive triples in just two minutes to catapult Maryville into a 62-45 lead with 3:18 remaining in the game.
Virginia Wesleyan junior Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian) answered with a triple and sophomore Kerry Johnson (Richmond, Va./J.R. Tucker) hit a couple of free throws as VWC pulled within a 64-52 score with 1:02 on the clock. But, that was as close as it would get before the final buzzer.
VWC struggled through another cold first half, hitting only 25% from the field, while Maryville connected on 43% of it attempts. The Marlins did take a brief lead at 9-7 on a Blalock layup, but the Scots came back to post a 13-9 lead and continued to build from there. Maryville lead 19-11 with 6:30 remaining in the half and 24-13 minutes later. But, VWC continued to attack and rallied to cut the lead to 28-22 with 1:38 on the clock. Maryville put in several unanswered baskets to forge out to a 32-22 lead at halftime.
Maryville moved its lead 38-29 early in the second half and owned a 44-33 advantage with 12:19 remaining to be played. Virginia Wesleyan continued to get shots, but the ball would not drop. VWC trailed only 44-37 with 11:41 on the clock, before Maryville used a 9-0 run to open up a 53-37 advantage with 9:26 remaining.
A timely three-point play by junior Jocelyn Spencer (Newport News, Va./Hampton Roads Academy) pulled VWC within a 53-42 score with 6:36 showing, before Menard hit the triples that helped propel the Scots to the win.
While it was an off day offensively for VWC, the defense had its moments, applying pressure that helped create 24 Maryville turnovers. The Marlins also fared well at the free throw lines, hitting 17-of-19 attempts, led by junior Shawnee Lewis (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) hitting 7-of-8.
Blalock led VWC with 18 points, hitting 7-of-10 field goal attempts. Rookie Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's) added 13 points for the Marlins.
Menard tallied a game-high 22 points for Maryville, hitting 5-of-8 triples overall. Lailah Farmer (Clinton, Tenn./Clinton) scored 12 points and Kiera Payne (Chattanooga, Tenn./Baylor) added 11.
Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Wednesday, Dec. 1, at 7 p.m. in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference game at Bridgewater College.
--AMDG--