The Virginia Wesleyan women's basketball team (4-5, 0-5 ODAC) faced Roanoke College in ODAC play, falling 68-52.
Brianna Long led the Marlins with 18 points, shooting 8-for-18 from the field, and 2-for-3 from the free throw line; Long also had 13 rebounds.
Bre Robinson contributed 12 points, going 6-for-14 from the field and 0-for-1 from the free throw line; she recorded seven rebounds and two steals.
Keagan Schwab tallied 11 points, shooting 5-for-14 from the field, 1-for-5 from beyond the arc, and 0-for-1 from the free throw line; Schwab registered five rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
Both teams had a slow start to the game, struggling to execute offensively. The first quarter ended with a score of 8-8. First year,
Alissa Clabo made four of these points for Virginia Wesleyan.
Maesyn Blaylock made a layup to start the second quarter to put the Marlins ahead 10-8, but the Maroons fought back with a 12-6 run to go up 18-14 with 7:00 on the clock. The Marlins responded with four layups to Roanoke's one to tie the game at 20-20. The Maroons refocused their offense, executing a 7-0 run to lead 27-20, but
Keagan Schwab answered with a three-pointer of her own followed up by a basket by
Brianna Long and a layup from Schwab, leveling the score once again at 27-27. The Maroons ended the half by making two free throws to enter the break 29-27.
Roanoke extended their lead in the third quarter, creating a 10-2 run in the first three minutes of the period to lead 41-31.
Brianna Long and
Keagan Schwab made back-to-back layups between 4:34 and 2:31 to diminish to Maroon lead to seven. With 53 seconds on the clock, the Maroons executed a layup to stretch the lead to eleven, but
Brianna Long was able to finish the quarter with a layup for the Marlins to bring them within nine points with a score of 51-42.
Virginia Wesleyan came out aggressively to start the final quarter of play as
Keagan Schwab and
Bre Robinson made consecutive layups to put the Marlins just six points behind the Maroons. Roanoke reclaimed their momentum, securing the largest lead of the night with 2:49 remaining after making two three-pointers since the six minute mark. The Marlins were unable to close the gap, losing 68-52.
Next, the women will face the University of Lynchburg at 2:00 p.m. on Saturday January 11 at home.
