For immediate release – 2/18/2015 - #268
Hairston Posts Career-High 27 as Hornets Coast to 72-60 Victory over VWC

LYNCHBURG, VA –Sophomore Charmaine Hairston matched her previous career high with 21 points in the first half alone, finishing with 27 as the Lynchburg College women's basketball team defeated Virginia Wesleyan College 72-60 Wednesday afternoon in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

The win secured the Hornets no worse than the No. 3 seed in the upcoming ODAC tournament next week. LC had already locked up a first round bye.

Lynchburg controlled the game early as the Hornets took a 7-0 lead behind a pair of baskets from Sarah Coon and Shannon Allan and a Hairston three.

The LC defensive pressure made it tough on the Marlins, who went 0-for-7 from the field in the early going. VWC scored its first point four minutes in on a Naeemah Morris free throw and would go two more minutes before netting its first basket.

Hairston connected on another trifecta before the Marlins scored their first field goal, a layup by Brittany Glasco with 13:40 left in the first half to make the game 10-3.

A Lauren Penley layup and a pair of Hairston free throws put the Hornets up double digits for the first time, 14-3, at 12:28.

An Andrea Paphites three-pointer cut the gap back to six and garnered some momentum for the visitors as Symonne Newsome and Kelly Jones knocked down threes to make it 14-12, forcing Coach Abby Pyzik Smith to take a timeout and settle the Hornets.

The timeout worked as Lynchburg went 4-for-5 in the two minutes immediately following the timeout, using a 12-2 run to race back out to a 26-14 edge. Hairston had eight points during the spurt, including a three to open the run and a traditional three-point play to force a VWC timeout. Allan connected from in close on a great pass from the top of the key by Chaney Forbush to finish off the run.

Paphites hit her second three of the game with 7:27 remaining to cut the lead back to single digits, 26-17, but LC would not let the Marlins get any closer the rest of the way.

The Hornets led 42-25 at the half behind a 50% shooting effort from the field and a 5-for-12 effort from deep. VWC outscored the Hornets by five, 35-30, in the second half and held Hairston to just six points in the final period. Lynchburg used a 43-28 edge in rebounding to prolong possessions and not let the Marlins start extended runs, despite shooting 50% from the field in the final half.

Jones had 12 points to lead Virginia Wesleyan (15-9/9-6 ODAC) with Glasco finished with nine points and a team-high seven rounds.

Allan and Forbush joined Hairston in double-figure scoring with 14 and 10 points respectively. Sarah Coon posted a game-high 12 rebounds while Sammi Goldsmith contributed 10 assists and eight boards.

Goldsmith's assist total ties a single-game record. She now has 135 on the season, breaking the previous single-season record of 126 held by Coach Pyzik Smith.

The win gives the Hornets regular-season victories over all 11 other ODAC teams this season, the first time in school history since the conference expanded to 12 teams.

Lynchburg (17-7/12-3) concludes regular-season play with an ODAC contest at Guilford College (14-9/8-6) Saturday at 2 p.m.