VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The VWU women's basketball fell to the Wasps of Emory & Henry College 78-56 on Saturday afternoon in ODAC competition at the Jane P. Batten Student Center in Virginia Beach, Va. The Marlins move to 5-13 overall and 3-8 in ODAC competition, while the Wasps are now 15-3 and 9-2. 

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Wasps scoring the opening basket but a layup by Sabrina Jones knotted the score at two. E&H took another two-point lead but the Marlins countered with an 8-0 run taking a 10-4 lead with under even to play in the opening quarter. The Wasps pulled within one point, 10-9, following five points from Kara Stafford. A three from Logan Carter gave VWU a 13-9 lead but the Wasps tied the score at 13 all after a three from Stafford. Sierra Coleman added a basket with two and a half to play but the bucket went cold for VWU who did not score for almost ten minutes. Emory & Henry went on a 20-0 run from 2:19 in the first quarter to the 3:57 mark of the second quarter when Carter was able to sink a three off a pass from Jessica Jennings that put the score ar 33-18. In the final four minutes of the first half, Virginia Wesleyan outscored Emory & Henry 15-10 to trail 43-30 at the halftime buzzer.

Four quick points for the Wasps gave them a 17-point lead early in the third quarter but the Marlins responded by closing the gap to 11 points after scoring six points, four from Jones and two from Jennings, as VWU trailed 47-36 with 6:15 to play in the third. A tre from Jennings at 5:37 pulled Virginia Wesleyan within 10 points of Emory & Henry but it was the last made basket of the quarter for the Marlins who trailed 64-39 heading into the final ten minutes of action. A 7-2 run started the fourth quarter for the Marlins who closed the point gap to 20 points, 66-46, with seven and a half to play. Despite scoring ten points the remainder of the quarter the Marlins could not catch the Wasps, who scored 11 in the remaining time, to hold on to a 22-point lead winning 78-56.

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by Jessica Jennings with 19 points and nine assists, one shy of a double-double. Jennings also had five rebounds and three steals. Sabrina Jones put up 15 points and Elizabeth Vincent led all Marlins with eight rebounds.

EMORY & HENRY LEADERS
The Wasps were led by Kara Stafford who scored 25 points after shooting 8-of-12 from the floor and going 6-of-7 from behind the three-point arc. Sydney McKinney and Peyton Williams each tallied double-digit points collecting 13 and 12 respectively. Alexis Hoppers led the Wasps with nine rebounds coming off the bench.

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game came between the first and second quarters when the Wasps went on a 20-0 run taking an 18-point lead over the Marlins that they could not overcome.

UP NEXT
Virginia Wesleyan hits the road on Tuesday, January 28, for a contest at Randolph-Macon College. The Yellow Jackets and Marlins meet for tip-off at 7 PM in Ashland, Va.