VIRGINIA BEACH -- All that was missing from Virginia Wesleyan College's snowballing 65-47 victory over Washington & Lee University's Generals on Tuesday was the snow.

The gradual build up, the increase in pace, and steady momentum were all there for the Marlins, who never trailed in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference contest played at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

Washington & Lee (3-6, 1-3), which owns victories over league-title favorite Randolph-Macon College and USA South Athletic Conference power Christopher Newport University, could not find the offense, or the defense, to stop Virginia Wesleyan's roll.  The Marlins improved to 8-2 overall and to 5-0 in the ODAC.

Harassing defense helped set the tone for the Marlins, who kept the pressure on the Generals throughout most of the first half and into the second.  The Generals responded with errant passes and bounces that helped produce Virginia Wesleyan points.  By the time the final buzzer sounded, Washington & Lee turned the ball over a season-high 26 times against a VWC team ranked No. 1 in the ODAC in defense and turnover margin.

Senior Shawnee Lewis (Alexandria, Va./Thomas A. Edison) scored for VWC on a jumper 25 seconds into the competition and the Marlins lead the rest of the way.  Four consecutive points from rookie Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) pushed VWC into a 6-0 lead, before Becca Bolton (Pittsboro, N.C./Chatham Central) scored for the Generals with 15:14 on the clock.

Washington & Lee would never get any closer than that however, as a 10-3 Virginia Wesleyan run, sparked by triples from Kristen Blalock (Suffolk, Va./Portsmouth Christian) and Seipp, opened up a 16-4 lead.  Kari Pfannenstein (Littleton, Colo./Heritage) and Bolton scored for the Generals to pull the visitors within eight points, before VWC ignited again.

This time it was a decisive 20-1 run over the final 9:40, catapulting Virginia Wesleyan into a 36-9 lead with 21 seconds remaining in the half.  Seven Marlins scored in the break-away run, led by senior Beth Ann Boyce (Colonial Heights, Va./Colonial Heights), with a pair of triples.  Meg Ingram (Greensboro, N.C./Ragsdale) hit a triple with five seconds before the buzzer to pull W&L within a 36-12 score at the break.

Lewis opened the second half the same way she did the first, with a basket, extending the tone of the game for VWC.  The Marlins matched their game-high lead of 27 points three times in the second half, before W&L rallied in the final three minutes to pull within 18 points by the time the game ended.

Seipp led all VWC scoring with 15 points, her third consecutive double-digit game and seventh of the season.  She hit a season-high three triples and was co-leader in rebounds with five.  Lewis finished with 11 points, helped by a 6-of-6 showing at the free throw lines, and Blalock, playing for the first time since sustaining a leg injury early in December, added nine points.  Junior Rachael Miller (Sterling, Va./Park View) had five rebounds as VWC out-boarded the Generals, 40-38.

Bolton paced Washington & Lee with 16 points, hitting 7-of-10 field goal attempts.  Pfannenstein added 12 points and Katy Wilson (Chattanooga, Tenn./Baylor) led all rebounding with 11.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Friday, Jan. 6, playing at Emory & Henry College at 7 p.m.  The Marlins also play on Saturday, Jan. 7, at Guilford College at 4 p.m.  Both are conference games.

--AMDG--