Box Score VIRGINIA BEACH, Virginia - The Virginia Wesleyan University women's basketball team opened their 2020-2021 season with a 70-63 loss to the Seahawks of Saint Mary's College of Maryland on Saturday afternoon in the newly renovated TowneBank Arena in Virginia Beach, VA. The Marlins move to 0-1 while the Seahawks are now 1-0 on the young season.

INSIDE THE SCORE
The game began with the Marlins getting on the board first on a layup by Adaje Williams within the first 30 seconds of the contest. SMCM hit a three pointer to take a brief lead but VWU responded by going on a 5-0 run taking a 7-3 lead as the clock neared the seven-minute mark. Stephanie Howell hit a jumper for the Seahawks to pull within two points 7-5, but the Marlins responded with a 9-0 run to take an 11-point lead, 16-5, with three minutes remaining in the opening quarter. SMCM added five points in the remaining three minutes while S'Zahria Jones added a jumper and Sabrina Jones split her free throws to close out the first 10 minutes of action with VWU leading 19-10.

The Marlins quickly opened up another 12-point lead over the Seahawks, 23-11, following a layup from Adaje Williams two minutes into the second quarter, but the Seahawks fought back to come withing three points of VWU following a 12-3 run by SMCM with Rachel Manning connecting on a layup at the five-minute mark that put the score at 26-23. VWU put the pedal to the metal with the Jones' scoring six consecutive points, S'Zahria scored four points and Sabrina two, to take a nine point lead, 32-23, with three minutes to play in the half. Both teams added a handful of points in the remaining minutes and VWU entered the break with an eight-point lead, 36-28 at the buzzer.

The Seahawks came out of the halftime break with a renewed fire as they used the first five minutes of the third quarter to pull within three points of the Marlins trailing 41-38 at the 5:39 mark. VWU reclaimed a six-point lead off of a pair of free throws from S'Zahria to lead 46-40, however SMCM tied the game and took the lead on some free throws by Karon Williams going up 47-46 for their first lead since the opening quarter. A layup by VWU's Danielle Lehner knotted the score again at 48 all, and spurred the Marlins to lead by two, 52-50, as the squads entered the final ten minutes of action.

Saint Mary's quickly closed Virginia Wesleyan's lead by tying the score at 54 all a minute and thirty seconds into the final quarter and never looked back for the remainder of the game. SMCM scored seven straight points to lead 61-54 as the clock ticked under the six-minute mark. The Marlins came as close as four points, trailing 67-63 at the 1:44 mark, but the Seahawks held on to win the contest 70-63 giving Saint Mary's their first win of the season and doling VWU their first loss. 

VIRGINIA WESLEYAN LEADERS
The Marlins were led by freshman Adaje Williams who recorded a career-high 23 points and 11 rebounds in her first collegiate appearance. S'Zahria Jones added a career-high in her first collegiate appearance as well with 14 points and eight rebounds as well as two steals.

SAINT MARY'S LEADERS
The Seahawks were led by Karon Williams with 18 points. She was closely followed by Cameron Mangold and Kendra Stamper who added 16 and 13 points respectively. Stephanie Howell led the rebounding game for the Seahawks with eight boards to go along with her nine points. 

KEY MOMENT
The key moment of the game in the fourth quarter of action when the Seahawks tied the score at 54 all on a jumper by Cameron Mangold near the 8:30 mark. SMCM took control of the remaining minutes finishing out the game on a 16-9 run over VWU to win 70-63 at the final buzzer.

UP NEXT
The Virginia Wesleyan Marlins will return to action on Tuesday, January 26 when they take to the road for their first road game of the season at the University of Lynchburg. Tip-off is scheduled for 6 pm and will be broadcasted for fans to watch.