BRIDGEWATER, Va. – Behind four players in double figures and a 51% effort shooting from the field, the Bridgewater Eagles (4-0, 2-0 ODAC) women's basketball team rolled to its fourth straight win of the season with an 80-55 victory over the visiting Virginia Wesleyan Marlins.
Both teams started off cold from the field, but it was the Eagles holding a slim 9-7 lead with 13:26 to play in the first half.
Over the next four and a half minutes, the Eagles turned a pair of turnovers and a number of missed Virginia Wesleyan (3-3, 1-1 ODAC) jumpers into a 14-3 run as Bridgewater built a 23-10 advantage with 8:57 to play in the opening frame.
The two teams traded scores over next five minutes as the lead remained at a 33-22 Bridgewater advantage with 3:47 to play in the first half.
With 3:30 to play in the stanza, a trey from the hands of Katelynn Hottinger (Linville, Va./Broadway) kick started an 11-2 run to end the half, putting the Eagles ahead 44-24 at the intermission.
In the first half, Bridgewater owned a 13-2 advantage in points off turnovers and a 24-10 edge in points in the paint.
Out of the halftime break, a sloppy start to the second half from both teams saw the score remain at a 20 point Eagles advantage with just under 18 minutes to play in the half. The two teams combined for nine turnovers in the first two minutes of the second stanza.
With 16:31 to play in the game, the Eagles built their lead to a then-game high 48-28 margin before Virginia Wesleyan showed signs of life with a 7-2 run to chip the Eagles lead back to 15 points with 15 and change remaining.
Following the Wesleyan burst, the Eagles used a run of their own to effectively put the game away when a Jordan Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) free throw led off a 12-2 Eagles run to push the Bridgewater lead to a 62-37 tally with 10:53 to play. Burkholder netted nine of the 12 Bridgewater points during the offensive barrage.
Bridgewater built the lead to a game-high 27 points on multiple occasions in the second half before rolling to an 80-55 victory over the Virginia Wesleyan Marlins, avenging a loss from the 2010 ODAC Tournament in Salem.
Burkholder paced the Bridgewater offense with a 20-point, 10-rebound double-double. The Bridgewater, Va. native shot 7-of-13 from the field, including a 4-for-7 performance from beyond the arc. Hottinger chipped in 13 points for the Eagles, while senior Emileigh Lambert (Charlottesville, Va./Albemarle)) and sophomore Jessica Mullen (Purcellville, Va./Loudon Valley) tossed in 12 and 11 points, respectively.
Hottinger also pulled down nine boards to just miss her second straight double-double. Bridgewater dominated the Marlins on the glass, owning a 45-to-34 advantage.
Junior Jenny Logan dished out a career-high eight assists in the win.
Virginia Wesleyan was led by a 14 point outing from Kristen Blalock. Jocelyn Spencer led the Marlins on the glass with eight boards.
Bridgewater's stingy defense kept the Marlins in check all night long, forcing 25 turnovers in the victory. The Marlins were also held to an abysmal 29% shooting from the field, including a paltry 4-of-21 from three point land.
The 4-0 start for the Eagles is the team's first since the 2006-07 season when the Eagles ran out to a 6-0 start.
Bridgewater is back in action on Saturday when the team travels to Randolph to take on the WildCats. Action from Randolph is slated for a 2:00 p.m. start.