EMORY, Va. -- Virginia Wesleyan College's women's basketball Marlins started off well as senior Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach/Princess Anne) nailed a triple with just 10 seconds played in Saturday's Old Dominion Athletic Conference game at Emory & Henry College.

But, the host Wasps scored seven straight points to jump in front and never trailed again en route to a stunning 75-62 upset that snapped a five-game winning streak for Virginia Wesleyan (7-4, 2-1). Emory & Henry (6-4, 1-2), which defeated VWC for the first time since a 60-57 decision in 2009, won for the fourth straight game (6-5, 1-2).

Virginia Wesleyan got the shots it wanted, but could not get them to drop, while Emory & Henry hit at the other end of the court to build a comfortable lead. Senior Symonne Newsome (Reistertown, Md./St. Paul's School for Girls) scored on a layup to pull VWC within a 7-5 score early, before Emory & Henry scored on four straight shots in a little more than two minutes to open up a 16-6 lead.

VWC's offense struggles continued through the next several minutes as the Marlins missed the shots they took, while Emory and Henry hit on 4-of-5 attempts to extend its lead to 26-8 with 12:47 remaining to be played in the firs half. It was a trend that continued the remainder of the half and Emory & Henry took advantage of VWC's lack of scoring to build a 43-27 lead by halftime.

After Tamara Brewster (Morrow, Ga./Forest Park) scored on a layup to open second half scoring and lift the Wasps to their largest lead of the game at 45-27, Virgnia Wesleyan's offense started to click when Nancy Kelly(Phoenix, Md./Dulaney), Kelly Jones(Ellicott City, Md./Mt. Hebron), and Newsome all scored to help the Marlins pull to within 11 points with 16 minutes remaining to be played.

Emory & Henry recovered to push back out to a 14-point advantage, but VWC rallied one more time and cut the Wasps' lead to just six points, 63-57, with 4:47 remaining to be played.  Jones nailed two timely triples in the comeback.  Unfortunately for the Marlins, the rally ended there as VWC managed to hit only two more baskets the remainder of the game, while the host Wasps scored enough to pull away to the final margin of victory.

Jones led all VWC scoring with 18 points, dropping through a season-high four triples. Kelly added 12 points, finishing as the only other Marlin to score in double figures. Kerri Taylor (Stockport, England/Pottstown, Pa. Hill School) led the team in rebounding with six and Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg/Massaponax) posted a game-high six assists.

Brewster topped four Wasps in double figure scoring with 17 points. Karina Farr (Graham, Wash./Bethel) added 16 points and 11 rebounds.

Virginia Wesleyan returns to competition on Tuesday, Jan. 6, hosting the Salem College Spirits from Winston-Salem, N.C. at 6 p.m. in the Jane P. Batten Student Center.

--AMDG--