SALISBURY, Md. -- A trio of sophomores combined for 52 points Tuesday to lead Virginia Wesleyan College's Marlins to a 73-55 non-conference victory at Salisbury University.

After playing one solid half each in losses to No. 16 University of Mary Washington and to Catholic University, which received votes for the most recent Top 25 poll, the Marlins put together two consistent halves to subdue the Sea Gulls (1-2) at SU's Maggs Physical Activities Center.

The showdown featured a match-up of standout players who captured Rookie of the Year honors in their respective conferences last year.  VWC's Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) took that honor in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and Salisbury's Anna Hackett (Germantown, Md./Clarksburg) earned it in the Capital Athletic Conference.  Seipp finished with 25 points, hitting 7-of-15 field goal attempts, while Hackett tallied 13 points, nailing 3-of-18 field goals and 7-of-8 free throw attempts.

Seipp was backed by a bigger supporting cast however, as VWC head coach Stephany Dunmyer used 13 players in the contest.  SophomoreNancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) scored a career-high 15 points, connecting on 7-of-9 shots inside, and sophomore Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) came off the bench to score 12 points on an assortment of shots. 

Six-foot senior Katie McGahagan (Baltimore, Md./Northeast) scored 15 points in close for Salisbury, which used only eight players overall. She also led all rebounding with 10.

Virginia Wesleyan (1-2) bolted out a 7-0 lead and never trailed en route to a seventh consecutive win in the series with Salisbury.  VWC now leads that series 12-6.Salisbury came back to close within a 7-6 score, only to see Virginia Wesleyan spark an 8-2 run, including a timely triple from senior Rachael Miller (Sterling/Park View), to open up a 15-8 lead.  The Marlins stayed a step ahead of the Sea Gulls the rest of the half, leading by eight point margins twice.  Salisbury rallied to cut the VWC lead to 24-22 with 5:52 remaining in the half, but the Marlins stayed in command and led 35-30 at halftime.

Kelly, Paphites, Miller, and Siepp all scored in the first three minutes of the second half to help VWC push out to a 43-33 lead. VWC led 52-42 with 9:54 remaining in the game but pulled away for good on a 13-4 run, led by Kelly with six points, as the Marlins took a 65-46 advantage with 4:15 on the clock.Salisbury never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.Virginia Wesleyan helped its cause by out-rebounding the taller Sea Gulls 44-40.  Seipp pulled down nine rebounds, Kelly added eight, and junior Katie Tassa (Bristow/Manassas Osbourn Park) pulled down seven.  Aleisha Hobbs (Salisbury, Md./Mardela) helped Salisbury with nine rebounds.

Virginia Wesleyan competes again on Saturday, Nov. 24, in the Turkey Shootout Tournament in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  The Marlins take on the host Methodist University Monarchs at 4:00 p.m.  VWC will compete against Greensboro College at 5:00 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 25 in the tournament.

--AMDG--