SALEM, Va. -- Rookie Kelly Jones nailed a triple with 13:05 remaining in the game Saturday to end a see-saw start to the second half and help put Virginia Wesleyan College's women's basketball team on a path to a crucial 77-69 Old Dominion Athletic Conference win over the host Maroons of Roanoke College.

Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) hit the three to give VWC a 51-49 lead and the Marlins never trailed again en route to improving their overall record to 15-8 and their ODAC mark to 10-4.  The Marlins remain in third place in the league standings entering the final two games of the regular season.

Roanoke (9-14, 5-9) tied the score at 53, but not for long as sophomore Nancy Kelly (Phoenix, Md./Dulaney) rolled inside to score and pick up a foul.  She converted the three point play and VWC led 56-53 with 9:51 on the clock.

It was all part of a 16-4 Virginia Wesleyan scoring run that left the Marlins leading 69-57 with 6:07 remaining to be played.  Sophomore Kerri-Leanne Taylor (Stockport, England/The Hill School, Pa.) hit a key triple in the surge.

Roanoke did not give up there however, as the Maroons battled back to close the gap to 69-67 with 3:08 showing.  Sophomore Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) hit a free throw to pad the VWC lead to 70-67 and the Marlins held off the host team the rest of the way.

Roanoke held the upper hand through the early minutes of the game, building a 29-19 lead with 7:31 showing in the first half.  But, sophomore Sarah Seipp (Gaithersburg, Md./Gaithersburg) took control thereafter and scored 10 unanswered points for the Marlins to tie the game at 29-all with 6:04 still to be played.

Markia Beckwith (Baltimore, Md./Digital Harbor) scored to put Roanoke in front 31-29, but sophomore Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) scored to tie the game for VWC and Seipp came through with another triple to give the Marlins a 34-31 advantage.

Roanoke came back to knot the score at 37 following a basket by Tatum McKee (Cornelius, N.C./North Mecklenburg), but Virginia Wesleyan took a 40-37 halftime lead at the buzzer when Taylor hit a triple off an assist from Kelly.

The teams traded shooting accuracy in the half as Roanoke slipped to 37.5% after hitting 53.8% in the first half.  Virginia Wesleyan hit 45.9% in the first half and improved that to 56.5% in the second half to finish the game at 50%.

Roanoke held a big advantage at the free throw lines hitting 19-of-25, while Virginia Wesleyan nailed 10-of-15 overall.  The Marlins, who hit a program record 14 triples against Roanoke in an earlier win over the Maroons this season, connected for seven in Salem, led by Taylor and Seipp with three each.

Seipped led VWC scoring with 17 points, tying a season high with seven field goals made.  Kelly added 15 points, tying her second highest output of the season, Glasco followed with 14 points and Paphites tallied 11.  It was the fourth consecutive double-figure scoring game for Paphites who has averaged 13.0 points per game in those outings. 

Virginia Wesleyan finished with 19 assists, led by junior Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) with a season-high six.  The Marlins also had 14 steals, led by Glasco and Newsome with four each.  Glasco has recorded at least one steal in 14 straight games and in 21 of 23 games this season.

McKee led Roanoke with 19 points, followed by Paxton Gwin (Buxton, N.C./Cape Hatteras) with 16 and Lauren Hankins (Dublin/Bland) with 14. Gwin pulled down a game-high eight rebounds, and McKee followed with seven, but Virginia Wesleyan won the battle of the backboards, 37-27. Glasco and Seipp led VWC with six boards each.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Tuesday, Feb. 12, playing at Lynchburg College in an ODAC game starting at 7 p.m.

--AMDG--