VIRGINIA BEACH -- A game that started with several question marks for the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team found the answers early in Saturday's competition against Emory & Henry College.
How would the Marlins play without injured starter Brittany Glasco? How would the Marlins compete without one of its leading rebounders in injured Kerri Taylor? How would the Marlins react after several 6:30 a.m. practices that were prompted by a subpar effort against Randolph-Macon College on Tuesday? And, most importantly, how would the Marlins fare against an Emory & Henry that defeated them by 15 points earlier in the season?
Junior Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) and sophomore Alexis Platt (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) stepped into the starting roles for Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponx) and Taylor (Stockport, England/Pottstown, Pa. The Hill School) and contributed to a focused effort that saw the Marlins establish control and never let it go. VWC led 17-4 in the first 10 minutes and 26-11 at halftime en route to a 68-48 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.
Seniors Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) and Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne), and junior Cassie Conley (New Market/Stonewall Jackson), all starters, helped set the tone for Virginia Wesleyan (13-8, 7-5) by scoring the Marlins' first three baskets of the game.
Jones followed with three straight scores to push the VWC lead to 17-4, and the Marlins never looked back. The Marlins backed their offensive play with tight defensive play that forced turnovers or hurried shots by the Wasps (10-11, 5-7 ODAC).
Emory & Henry connected on just 12.9% of its field goals in the first half, while VWC hit just 9-of-31 shots. But, the Marlins consistently pulled away by hitting timely three-point launches, and finished the first half nailing 7-of-14. Jones hit four, Paphites added two and Newsome had one.
Megan Jacoby (Richmond/Amelia Academy), Tamara Brewester (Morrow, Ga./Forest Park), and Karinna Farr (Graham, Wash./Bethel) carried the Wasps early in the second half, but could not gain much ground on the Marlins. Conley scored eight of VWC's first 16 points in the half, helping the Marlins to a 42-24 lead.
Jones gave Virginia Wesleyan its largest lead of the game at 25 points, 60-35, when she hit he sixth triple of the contest with 4:02 on the clock.
While a large, partisan crowd applauded VWC's efforts throughout the game, two of the loudest cheers of the game came in the final 1:31 when rookies Kristin Rempas (Norfolk/Norfolk Collegiate) and Dare Wright (South Hill/Park View) scored their first baskets of the season. Rempas hit a jumper from the left with 1:31 showing and Wright drove inside to score with 59 seconds remaining.
Emory & Henry improved hits shooting percentage by hitting 51.9% in the second half, finishing at 31% overall, while VWC hit 53.6% in the half and 40.7% overall. The Marlins continued to fare well from three-point range and hit their second highest total of the season, nailing 12-of-25.
Jones, who hit a season-high 6-of-11 triples, led all scoring with 18 points. Conley hit 4-of-5 field goal attempts en route to scoring a career-high 14, and Paphites connected on 4-of-7 triples and added 14 points. VWC outrebounded the Wasps 43-31, led by senior Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) and Platt with eight each.
Chloe Harris (Bristol, Va./John S. Battle) finished as the leading scorer for the Wasps, netting 10 points, including eight in the second half. She also shared high rebounding honors with Farr, each with six. Kristie Langley (Staley, N.C./Providence Grove) and Jacoby scored nine points each for E&H.
Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Wednesday, Feb. 11, hosting Bridgewater College in ODAC play at 7 p.m.
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