VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Virginia Wesleyan outscored Bridgewater 10-1 over the final five minutes of the game Wednesday evening to take a 70-61 victory in Old Dominion Athletic Conference basketball action.

The Marlins hit the Eagles with an early punch, racing out to a 15-6 lead in the first six minutes of play.

Bridgewater withstood the early barrage with a layup by Oshene Kelly and a 3-pointer by Cassidy Burkholder to pull with five, 15-11.

A jumper by Crystal Strother and two foul shots by Kerri-Leanne Taylor pushed the Marlins margin back to eight, but the Eagles answered with eight straight points to tie the score.

Holly Morgan started the run with a 3-pointer and two foul shots by Molly Shelley cut the deficit to three points. Burkholder then knocked down another 3-pointer to tie the score, 19-19, with 10:33 remaining in the first half.

The teams traded points for the next seven minutes with the score being tied at 21-21, 23-23, 25-25, 27-27 and 29-29.

After two foul shots by Heather Cantrell tied the score at 29-29, Jessi Strom gave the Eagles their first lead of the game with a 3-pointer, making the score 32-29.

Strother answered with a 3-pointer to the score before a jumper by Burkholder was offset by two free throws by Wesleyan's Nancy Kelly to tie the score again at 34-34. Cantrell scored on a jumper to give the Eagles a 36-34 lead with 1:03 left and Kelly scored on a short jumper with 40 ticks remaining to give Bridgewater a four-point 38-34 lead at the half.

Bridgewater opened the second half with jumpers by Cantrell and Morgan to open up an eight-point, 42-34 lead.

The Eagles maintained the upper hand until the Marlins scored five unanswered points to the score at 53-53 with 12:46 left in the game.

Two free throws by Kelly put the Eagles back on top before a 3-pointer by Kelly Jones and a layup by Brittany Glasco gave Virginia Wesleyan a 58-55 advantage with 10:41 left.

The Eagles then went cold from the floor, making just two shots the rest of the way.

Cantrell made one of those shots with 6:52 left to make it a one-point game, but Katie Tassa's jumper on the ensuing possession put the Marlins back up by three, 60-57.

Two foul shots by Burkholder cut the margin back to one with 5:22 remaining, but Strother knocked down a big 3-pointer to push the Marlins lead to four 63-59 with 4:43 to go.

Bridgewater missed six consecutive shots plus the front end of a one-and-one opportunity before Kelly scored on a short jumper with 1:06 left to pull the Eagles to within four, 65-61.

A jumper by Jones put the Marlins up by six and, after a missed 3-pointer by Morgan, Jones hit two foul shots for a 69-61 lead with 41 seconds left on the clock.

Cantrell led three Eagles in double digits with 15 points. Burkholder scored 12 and Kelly added 10. Four Marlins reached double figures with Glasco leading the way with 18 points.

The teams battled to a 36-36 standoff on the boards. Shelley pulled down nine rebounds to lead the Eagles and Glasco grabbed seven rebounds for the victors.

Bridgewater finished the game shooting 36.2 percent, making 21-of-58 shots. The Marlins connected on 24-of-55 for 43.6 percent.

Bridgewater is now 7-15 overall and 5-10 in the ODAC. The Marlins are now 15-9, 9-6 in the conference.