SALEM, Va. – Senior Brittany Atwater scored a career- and game-high 25 points in Guilford College's 75-61 victory over Virginia Wesleyan College in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Basketball Tournament semifinal Saturday.
With their 15th win in 16 games, the second-seeded Quakers (23-4) advance to their second straight ODAC Tournament final where they will face top-seeded Eastern Mennonite University (22-5) Sunday (2/24) at 1:00 p.m. Guilford is the defending tournament champions.
Atwater hit for 11 in the first half, which helped the Quakers pull way for a 33-26 halftime lead. The Marlins led, 19-17, 5:05 before the break, but a 12-0 run gave the Quakers the lead for good. Atwater scored seven of Guilford's points in that time, including a three-pointer to cap the spurt and open a 29-19 Quakers' advantage.
The Marlins (18-9) scored the second half's first five points to make it a 33-31 game, but Guilford answered with a 13-2 run that featured five more Atwater points. The Quakers shot 50 percent from the floor in the second half and grew their lead to as many as 19.
Atwater, who averaged 7.1 points per game entering today's contest, made 9-of-12 shots from the floor, including both three-pointers. The Second Team All-ODAC pick also dished out a game-high four assists and grabbed six rebounds. Teammate Gabby Oglesby, a First Team All-ODAC honoree, added her ninth double-double of the year with 19 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Second Team All-ODAC pick Morgan King notched her fifth double-double with 12 points and 10 boards. Guilford outrebounded the Marlins, 47-37, and held them to under 32 percent field-goal shooting.
Brittany Glasco led Virginia Wesleyan with 21 points and six rebounds. Teammate Andrea Paphites made all three three-pointers and finished with 15 points and six boards. Symonne Newsome added 10 points off the bench.
Eastern Mennonite defeated Guilford in both regular-season matchups and is ranked fifth in this week's NCAA Division III South Region Poll. The winner of Sunday's final earns the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.