VIRGINIA BEACH -- A plus side to depth is the ability for any player to step up to give a team a lift when needed.
Senior Joceyln Spencer was that "lifter" Friday night for the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team, providing key leadership, points, and rebounds that helped carry the Marlins to a 69-43 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory over a pesky Hollins University team.
It might not seem like the Marlins needed the lift, but consider the fact Hollins (5-7, 4-4) was still within nine points with 11:01 to play, after pulling as close as 38-32 in the first four minutes of the second half. But, Spencer (Newport News, Va./Hampton Roads Academy) scored eight points in a span of three minutes to reignite the Virginia Wesleyan offense
Rookie standouts Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) and Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), and senior Shawnee Lewis (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) all followed with key scores as Virginia Wesleyan put together a 19-4 run to open up a 65-41 lead with 3:11 on the clock. Seipp led the way with seven points.
The victory was VWC's 15th consecutive over Hollins and improved the Marlins' current overall record to 11-3. VWC is also 8-1 in the ODAC, giving the women's program its best start since the 2007-08 season.
It was a game that started well for Virginia Wesleyan. A balanced scoring attack produced a 33-10 lead for the host team, before the Marlins started to go cold and Hollins warmed up. Led by Jasmine Greene (Hampton, Va./Tabb) and Britney Campbell (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch), HU outscored VWC 15-4 in the final five minutes of the half to cut the Marlins' lead to 37-25 by halftime.
That momentum carried over for the visitors in the second half as Molly Tahmaseb (Greensboro, N.C./Northern Guilford) and Lacie Forrest (Richmond, Va./Meadowbrook) got into the scoring for Hollins and helped whittle the VWC spread to 38-32 with 16:02 remaining in the game.
That's where close ended however, as sophomore Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls), sophomoreKatie Tassa (Bristow, Va./Manassas Osbourn Park), and Kelly all came through for key scores to pump up the VWC lead before Spencer took over.
Seipp led all scoring with 17 points, recording her seventh consecutive double-figure scoring game. Spencer followed her with 11 points and Newsome came through with nine. Seipp also led the Marlins with nine rebounds and Spencer pulled down seven.
Green, the ODAC's leading scorer, led Hollins with 13 points. Tahmaseb and Campbell both chipped in with nine points. Lauren Morris led HU with seven rebounds.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, Jan. 14, hosting Roanoke College at 4 p.m. in a doubleheader at the Jane P. Batten Student Center. VWC's men (12-1, 5-0), ranked No. 2 nationally, also host Roanoke at 2 p.m.
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