Salisbury Deals Marlins 56-50 Loss

SALISBURY, Md. --- The Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team lost 56-50 against Salisbury University in non-conference action Tuesday night.

Salisbury held an early 28-14 lead in the first half behind the play of Kaylyn French, who almost recorded a double–double in the first two quarters. French scored six points and registered seven rebounds before intermission. Virginia Wesleyan's Naeemah Morris pulled down six boards while also scoring five points in the opening half to counter French in the post.

The Marlins rallied to close within the single-digit final margin by outscoring Salisbury 21-13 in the final quarter.

Both teams had multiple scoring chances on the afternoon, but the defenses of the Marlins and Sea Gulls held the opposition in check. Salisbury shot 32% from the floor while Virginia Wesleyan was held to 27% shooting from the floor.

The Sea Gulls held a +17 advantage in the rebounding margin over the Marlins, registering 61 rebounds on the night. However, the Marlins limited the Sea Gulls to only six second chance points. Salisbury turned the ball over 19 times on the night and Virginia Wesleyan turned those turnovers into 10 fastbreak points.

French finished with nine points and 15 rebounds for the Sea Gulls. Josephine Nonnan earned a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds. Lauren Rothfeld added 14 points, while shooting 50% from the field.

Virginia Wesleyan's NiAsia Caldwell scored 15 points on the night while Morris finished with eight points and seven boards. Jayla Harris, the game's leading scorer, poured in 16 points for the Marlins.

Virginia Wesleyan (0-1) travels to Fredericksburg this weekend for a tipoff tournament and will play its first game at 5 p.m. Saturday against Averett University (1-0).