VIRGINIA BEACH -- Night and day, hot and cold, motivated and uninspired, and the list goes on.

Anyone of them would apply to a subpar performance by the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team on Wednesday, as the Marlins dropped a 55-36 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) contest to the Royals of Eastern Mennonite University (EMU) at the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

The loss came just four days off a stellar comeback effort by the Marlins (10-4) on the road to upend two-time defending ODAC champion Guilford College.  But, on Wednesday VWC could not spark a consistent offense and surrendered enough easy baskets to put the Royals (10-4) in control.  VWC is now in a four-way tie for the ODAC lead with EMU, Randolph-Macon, and Lynchburg, all with 4-1 league records.

Virginia Wesleyan struggled to find the hoop the entire game and ended up shooting just 31.3% from the field, tying its third coldest effort of the season.  That mark included an icy 14.8% from three-point range, the second lowest showing of the season.  Free throws reflected VWC's inability to drive to the basket, as the Marlins hit only 2-of-4 attempts overall.

A bright spot for VWC was the fact that EMU was held to its second lowest offensive output of the year.  The Royals entered the game averaging 76.8 points each outing.

Ironically, the game started well for VWC as the Marlins took a 12-10 after a three-point shot by Kerri Taylor (Stockport, England/The Hill School, Pa.) and a free throw from Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax).  But, Nora Osei (Springfield/West Springfield) hit a jumper for EMU to tie the game and the Royals took the lead for good on a layup by Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa./Lancaster Mennonite).

The last 14 minutes of the first half were disastrous for VWC as the Marlins failed to score.  VWC put up 14 shots and did not connect on any.  To make matters worse, the Marlins turned the ball over nine times in that 14-minute span.  EMU scored 18 unanswered points to open up a 28-12 lead at halftime.

EMU extended its lead to 18 early in the second, before Virginia Wesleyan sparked temporarily.  A three-point play by rookie Alexis Platt (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) started the Marlins on an 11-2 run that cut the Royals' lead to 35-26 with 13:53 remaining to be played. Sophomore Kelly Jones (Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron) hit two triples in the run, which included another layup by Platt, before EMU started to recover.

EMU put together at 15-4 run to pull away for good.

Jones led VWC scoring with nine points, followed by Glasco with seven.  Glasco produced a game-high six assists. 

Bianca Ygarza (Conestoga, Pa./Penn Manor) led EMU with 12 points and eight rebounds.  She led EMU's board attack that outrebounded VWC 39-24.

Virginia Wesleyan will attempt to get back on the winning side of things on Saturday, Jan. 18, when the Marlins host Washington and Lee University in an ODAC game starting at 4 p.m.

--AMDG--