EMORY, Va. -- Emory & Henry College's Wasps produced a rally in each half Friday to cut into a Virginia Wesleyan College lead, but had each run ruined.
Marlin rookie Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) emerged as "The Ruinator" at the John Rutledge King Center where she scored a career-high 19 points on a near-perfect night from the field.
Seipp connected on 8-of-9 field goal attempts, including one triple, and hit 2-of-3 free throws, but more importantly took control for Virginia Wesleyan (9-2, 6-0) after Emory & Henry (1-5, 0-4) seemed to find a little momentum.
Virginia Wesleyan opened up a 25-13 lead with 9:24 remaining in the first half, when the host Wasps rode the scoring of Taylor Pumphrey (Woodstock, Va./Central), Valerie Beale (Greensboro, N.C./Wesleyan Christian), Faith Walker (Richmond, Va./Mills E. Godwn), and JoBeth Wright (Mooresville, N.C./Lake Norman) to pull within a 31-28 score with 2:54 on the clock.
That's when Seipp stepped in for the Marlins, scoring seven points in the final two minutes to spark a 9-0 run that gave Virginia Wesleyan a 40-28 lead at halftime.
That momentum carried Virginia Wesleyan through the early minutes of the second half, before Emory & Henry made its final run, cutting a VWC double-digit lead to 48-40 with 14:39 remaining in the game. Before it could go any further, Virginia Wesleyan ignited again behind Seipp. The Marlins outscored the Wasps 12-2 to open up a 60-42 lead as Seipp tallied seven points and sophomore Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) added four.
Virginia Wesleyan was never threatened again and opened up a 22-point lead at 68-46 on a Seipp jumper.
Seipp's showing was just part of another balanced VWC effort, which included the inside scoring of senior Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian). She scored 15 points, hitting 6-of-12 field goal attempts. Senior Shawnee Lewis (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) contributed 10 points, Newsome finished with six points, but led the Marlins in rebounds with seven. Rookie Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) added six rebounds.
Kristie Langley (Staley, N.C./Providence Grove) led Emory & Henry with 18 points, hitting 7-of-12 field goals. Michelle Williams (Stokesdale, N.C./Northwest Guilford) led the Wasps with eight rebounds.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition in less than 24 hours, motoring to Greensboro, N.C., to take on the Quakers of Guilford College in an ODAC game at 4 p.m. The match-up features the last two undefeated teams in league competition. Guilford, riding an eight-game winning streak, improved to 8-2 overall and to 5-0 in the league on Friday with a 90-75 win over Randolph-Macon College.
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