LYNCHBURG, Va. -- A 12-game winning streak in the series with Lynchburg College came to an end for the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball Marlins on Tuesday.

Lynchburg jumped out to a first-half lead and held off the Marlins the rest of the way en route to posting a 68-54 Old Dominion Athletic Conference victory on the Hornets' court.  The win was the first for a Lynchburg women's basketball team against VWC since 2005.

The loss spoiled another outstanding night for Virginia Wesleyan junior Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian), who continued her torrid scoring streak.  She tallied a game-high 23 points, marking her third consecutive 20+ point production and fourth in the last five games.  Blalock has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games.

But, the Marlins (10-11, 8-8) didn't have enough to complement Blalock's effort.  Sophomore Rachael Miller (Sterling, Va./Park View) was the only other Marlin to score with some consistency.  She tallied 11 points, hitting three triples.  No other VWC player tallied more than six points.

Lynchburg, which lost to Virginia Wesleyan earlier in the season in Virginia Beach, took a 31-20 lead  at halftime and pushed it to 37-20 early in the second half.  Virginia Wesleyan came back strong in the final minutes however, as scoring by rookie Katie Tassa (Bristow, Va./Manassas Osbourn Park), junior Shaunique Lamb (Stafford, Va./North Stafford), and Miller helped to pull the Marlins with a 50-46 score with 4:58 remaining to be played.

But, Lynchburg pushed back in front by seven and used the free throw line to pad the gap down the stretch.  Lynchburg hit 11-of-12 free throws in the final 1:34.  The Hornets toed the charity stripe 37 times in the game and hit 27, including 11-of-14 by Courtney Brewer (Culpeper, Va./Highland).  VWC hit 12-of-7 free throws overall.

Roslyn Alexander (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendenowa) led Lynchburg with 22 points.  Caitlin Falls (Moneta, Va./Staunton River) and Brewer scored 11 each and Annie Terry (Appomattox, Va./Appomattox) tallied 10.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Saturday, Feb. 12, hosting Eastern Mennonite University at 4 p.m. in the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

--AMDG--