VIRGINIA BEACH -- On a night when Virginia Wesleyan College's women's basketball Marlins looked like fish playing out of water, someone needed to step up to make things right.
Step in Jocelyn Spencer. The senior from Newport News, Va. (Hampton Roads Academy) rolled in for a three-point play to break a 40-all tie in the second half Tuesday in the Jane P. Batten Student Center against the improved Hornets of Lynchburg College.
It didn't stop there however, as Spencer scored seven consecutive points to get the Fish back into the swim for good, igniting others to follow suit. Seniors Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian) and Shawnee Lewis (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) and rookies Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) and Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg, Va./Massaponax) all scored in a 21-5 run that helped carry VWC to a 67-56 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory.
Seipp and Lewis both hit big triples in the decisive run that helped Virginia Wesleyan to a regular-season sweep of the Hornets. VWC also won 82-47 in December and has now won 14 of the last 15 games in the series with Lynchburg. The victory improved VWC's current overall record to 17-4 and to 14-2 in the ODAC, tying the Marlins for first place with Eastern Mennonite University. That tie will end on Saturday, Feb. 11, when VWC and EMU square off at 4 p.m. in Harrisonburg.
One of EMU's losses was to Lynchburg, which seemed focused on posting another upset win among ODAC leaders. Led by Katie Reeves (Fredericksburg, Va./Liberty), Shannon Allan (Warwick, N.Y./Warwick Valley), and Caitlin Falls (Moneta, Va./Staunton River), the Hornets led throughout much of the first half before Virginia Wesleyan took control.
That happened in the final four minutes of the half, ignited by a Lewis triple of a Glasco assist. It was the start of an 11-0 Marlin run, which included additional triples from junior Rachael Miller (Sterling, Va./Park View) and Seipp, to open up a 33-23 lead. Reeves and Falls answered for Lynchburg to cut the lead to 33-27 at halftime.
Virginia Wesleyan came back in the second half to rebuild the span to 40-31, but hit a cold spell, missing three shots and turning the ball over three times. Lynchburg simply capitalized on the opportunities and rode the scoring of Caleigh Patterson (Fairfax, Va./Fairfax), Carly Greenlief (Centreville, Va./Westfield), and Falls to tie the score at 40 with 13:16 remaining in the game.
The teams traded missed shot for the next two minutes, before Spencer emerged to turn momentum in favor of Virginia Wesleyan for the remainder of the game.
Seipp led all scoring with 19 points, hitting 5-of-10 field goals, including 4-of-7 triples. She also produced a game-high four steals. Spencer finished with 13 points, hitting 4-of-6 fielders and 5-of-5 free throws. Blalocked added nine points and Lewis finished with eight.
Virginia Wesleyan's pressuring defense helped force 23 Lynchburg turnovers. Seventeen resulted in steals for the Marlins.
Reeves led Lynchburg with 13 points, followed by Shannon and Falls with 11 points each. The Hornets won the rebounding battle 42-36, led by Shannon with 13.
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