Marlins Pull Away in Second Half for Win over W&L
LEXINGTON, Va. – The Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team outscored Washington and Lee University 40-26 in the second half to defeat the Generals 63-47 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action Wednesday night.
The Marlins led 23-21 at halftime and maintained an early third quarter lead, despite Washington and Lee keeping the score close. Virginia Wesleyan led 31-30 with 5:43 to go in the period before going on a 15-2 run closed out the third and carried over into the fourth quarter.
Naeemah Morris started the run with a traditional three-point play before Crystal Strother contributed a layup to put VWC up 36-30. Strother added a free throw later, while Amanda Gerni tallied three points and Raya Berkley, two, to finish off the run. The Virginia Wesleyan defense did not allow a made basket by the Generals during that time.
NiAsia Caldwell started the fourth quarter with two made free throws before a Strother layup capped off the Marlin run with VWC leading by 14, 46-32.
Washington and Lee broke the run on a made three-pointer by Andrea Ferrero with 6:57 to play, but the Generals could not cut the lead any closer than that the remainder of the way.
Emily Perszyk led Washington and Lee (7-8/3-4) with 13 points while Emma Redding tallied seven points and eight rebounds.
Caldwell and Strother tied for the team lead with 17 points, while Jayla Harris contributed 13 to go with five rebounds and four assists.
Virginia Wesleyan (10-6/5-4) will host Roanoke College (6-9/1-5) Saturday for a 2 p.m. ODAC start.
Notes
The Marlins are 5-2 in January…Virginia Wesleyan shot 42.9% from the field and is now 10-2 when shooting at least 30% from the field…Strother has posted her three best scoring efforts of the season in the past three games (11.7 ppg)…Virginia Wesleyan is 31-16 all-time against W&L…The 47 points allowed is the fewest against the Generals since a 60-35 victory in the 2013-14 season and the fewest allowed on the road since 2009-10, a 48-47 win.