SALEM, Va. -- Shots are there for the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team.

Drop throughs are not.

Cold shooting has plagued VWC most of the season and hooked the Marlins again Saturday as Roanoke College's Maroons posted a 57-29 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory at the C.Homer Bast Center.

Virginia Wesleyan (7-8, 5-5) connected on just 17.9% from the field for the game, putting up 56 shots and hitting on just 10. Roanoke (7-4, 6-1), which hit 36.7% from the field, put through 22 shots, including six from three-point range.

Virginia Wesleyan did lead 8-6 early, following a score by junior Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian), but back-to-back baskets by Roanoke's Nicci Moats (Blue Ridge, Va./Lord Botetourt) and Laurel Hankins (Dublin, Va./Bland) gave the Maroons a lead they never lost.

Sophomore Rachael Miller (Sterling, Va./Park View) hit a triple that pulled VWC within 19-15 with 3:43 remaining in the first half, but Roanoke recovered to push back out to a 26-15 halftime lead with the scoring help of Kylie Lucas (Verona, Va./Ford Defiance), who scored the final five points for the host team.

A Blalock triple kept the Marlins within eight to start the second half.  But, the Marlins missed their next 10 field goal attempts, opening the door for Roanoke to pull away.  The Maroons scored 13 unanswered points to push out to a 39-18 lead before Blalock scored for VWC.

Virginia Wesleyan never got closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

Blalock led Marlin scoring with 11 points, marking her sixth consecutive game in double-figure scoring. 

Moats and Hankins led Roanoke with 13 points each.  Moats also led all rebounding with 12, as Roanoke dominated the boards, 54-34. 

Roanoke helped itself by hitting 6-of-17 triple attempts, three by Hankins.  VWC put up 27 triple attempts, but could hit only three, two by Miller.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Friday, Jan. 21, playing at Randolph College at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--