SALEM, Va. -- Momentum that sparked in the first half for Virginia Wesleyan College's women's basketball team caught fire early in the second half in an Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) contest at Roanoke College on Saturday.

The visiting Marlins closed the first half with a 6-2 run and extended it after halftime, outscoring the host Maroons 15-1 in a little over four minutes to take a 48-40 lead.  VWC maintained its lead the rest of the way to post a 70-56 victory in it second of five straight road games in December.

Laurel Hankins (Dublin, Va./Bland) knocked down consecutive triples to give Roanoke (2-5, 0-3) a 37-27 lead with 3:06 remaining to be played in the first half.  But, scoring by junior Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) and rookie Alexis Platt (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) sparked the eventual takeover by the Marlins (6-2, 3-0), who trailed just 39-33 at halftime.

Sophomore Cassie Conley (New Market/Stonewall Jackson)put through a triple 18 minutes into the second half for VWC.  Senior Katie Tassa (Bristow/Manassas Osbourn Park) and juniorsNancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax), and Paphites all followed with timely scores to help the Marlins put together the 15-1 scoring start to start the second half and build a 48-40 lead with 15:53 remaining to be played.

Tatum McKee (Cornelius, N.C./North Mecklenburg) connected on a trey and Markia Beckwith (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor) followed with a layup to bring Roanoke back briefly, but sophomore Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) drilled the first of her three second half triples to put Virginia Wesleyan back in control.  

Jones hit back-to-back triples later in the half to help VWC open its largest lead of the game at 63-48 with 4:17 on the clock.  Overall, Virginia Wesleyan outscored Roanoke 37-17 in a solid second half to take the win.

Jones scored 13 points in the second half, hitting 5-of-9 field goal attempts, and finished with 16 points.  VWC's high scoring honors went to Kelly however, who scored a career-high 19 points in only her second start of the season after missing the early season due to illness.  She connected on 9-of-12 field goal attempts.  Paphites added 12 points to the scoring, recording her eighth straight double-figure scoring contest of the season.

Virginia Wesleyan outrebounded Roanoke 46-41, led by Glasco with 10, her second highest total of the season, and Kelly with nine.   Glasco also contributed with six assists, Paphites added five, and Platt recorded four.

Hankins led Roanoke with 22 points, followed by Paxton Gwin (Buxton, N.C./Cape Hatteras)with 14.  Gwin topped Roanoke rebounding with 10.

Virginia Wesleyan continues its road ways in December on Sunday, the 15th, in Maryland against the Mustangs of Stevenson University at 2 p.m.

--AMDG--