Rally Falls Short in 76-59 Loss to Lynchburg

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team cut the Lynchburg College deficit to just three points in the third quarter, 49-46, before ultimately falling 76-59 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action Wednesday night.

Lynchburg led by 13 points at halftime, 45-32, before the Marlins starting cutting into the lead to start the third quarter. Raya Berkley started the charge with a pair of free throws before NiAsia Caldwell scored on back-to-back layups to cut the LC lead to seven points.

Following a layup by Sarah Coronel, a Crystal Strother layup and Jayla Harris 3-pointer brought the score to within four points, 47-43.

Coronel scored two more free throws before Strother poured in another three to cut the deficit to 49-46, the closest the Marlins would get in the game.

A 7-0 Lynchburg run pushed the Lynchburg lead back out to 56-46 with 3:20 to go in the period. Lynchburg remained at least a four-point edge the remainder of the game.

Virginia Wesleyan cut the game to 61-57 with 5:41 to play as Naeemah Morris connected on a layup, but Lynchburg closed on a 15-2 run to finish off the game.

Charmaine Hairston finished with 17 points for Lynchburg (15-3/9-0) while Molly Shephard posted a double-double of 17 points and 11 rebounds. Caroline Naumann added 13 points while Olivia DeFrancesco dished out a game-high 12 assists.

Caldwell finished with 20 points and five rebounds for Virginia Wesleyan while Harris added 12.

Virginia Wesleyan (11-7/6-3) travels to Emory & Henry College (12-6/6-3) Saturday for a 2 p.m. ODAC start.

Notes

Virginia Wesleyan is 42-20 all-time against Lynchburg, but has lost the last four…VWC's last win in the series was the 2015 ODAC Championship, 59-57…This is Caldwell's third 20-plus point game and the first since November 30…Shephard now has 48 points in two starts for Lynchburg…DeFrancesco's assist total was two away from a Lynchburg single-game record.