Quakers Power past Virginia Wesleyan, 69-49

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Guilford College received a pair of double-doubles Friday afternoon to defeat the Virginia Wesleyan College women's basketball team 69-49 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) action.

 The game was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon, but was moved to Friday in advance of the impending snow storm expected in Hampton Roads.

The two squads battled to a tight 12-12 first quarter as the Marlins led for most of the period. After trailing 12-9 late in the first quarter, the Quakers went on a 12-4 run that spanned eight minutes to take a 21-16 lead midway through the second quarter.

Virginia Wesleyan kept the game to six points at halftime with a Guilford squad that advanced to last year's ODAC final and featured one of the top forwards in the league in Anais Weatherly.

Jayla Harris had five points in the first half to pace the Marlins while Raya Berkley contributed four. Amanda Gerni had an impressive first half with five points and six rebounds.

NiAsia Caldwell scored the first points out of the break to cut the deficit to 29-25, but Guilford answered with a 7-1 run to go up 36-26 just two minutes into the third quarter. Amy Steller accounted for five points in the spurt while Heaven Walters tallied the other two.

The Marlins stayed within striking distance, trailing 48-40 with 9:47 to play in the game, but the Quakers closed on a 21-9 run for the final margin.

Guilford (10-2/3-1) powered its way in the paint with double-doubles coming from Walters (18 points, 12 rebounds) and Weatherly (12 points, 10 rebounds). Steller finished with 15 points while Lauren Ramsey tallied seven points, seven rebounds, and six assists.

Guilford held a 52-33 edge in rebounds, resulting in a 21-7 advantage in second chance points.

Harris paced the Marlins with 13 points while Caldwell and Gerni finished with seven points each while the latter also pulled down a career best of eight rebounds.

Virginia Wesleyan (7-5/2-2) travels to Randolph-Macon College (7-4/2-1) Tuesday for a 7 p.m. ODAC contest.