The Virginia Wesleyan University women's basketball team (8-6, 2-3 ODAC) was defeated by ODAC opponent Guilford 59-56.
Brianna Long led the team with a double-double 12 points shooting 5-for-11 from the field, going 2-for-2 from the free throw line, recorded 17 rebounds, one assists, and one steal.
Keira Bagwell had nine points shooting 3-for-8 from beyond the arc, one rebounds, three assists, one block, and two steals.
Isabella Murphy scored nine points shooting 3-for-4 from deep playing only six minutes in the game.
Virginia Wesleyan started well and scored the first two buckets of the game to take a 4-0 lead at the 6:59 mark. Followed by a Guilford three to bring the score to 4-3. The Quakers outscored the Marlins 4-3 to tie the game at 7-7 with 4:17 left in the quarter. Guilford went on a 5-0 run to take a 12-7 lead with 2:19 left in the quarter. Each team scored two points the rest of the quarter to give Guilford a 14-9 lead heading into the second frame.
To start the second quarter, the host narrowly outscored the Marlins 7-6 to hold a 21-15 lead with 6:02 left in the half. Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes to take a 22-21 lead over GC. The Quakers rallied and went on a 10-5 run to close out the half and hold a 31-27 lead heading into the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Marlins responded well and went on a 7-3 run to tie the game at 34-34 at the 4:20 mark in the third frame. Over the next two minutes, the Quakers outscored the Marlins 6-5 to take a 40-39 lead. Each team scored two points the rest of the quarter to put Guilford up 42-41 heading into the final frame.
Guilford came out in the fourth quarter and rattled off seven straight points to take a 49-41 lead with 6:38 left in the game. However,
Isabella Murphy of the Marlins responded, making three buckets from beyond the arc to fuel a 9-0 run and take a 50-49 lead with 4:33 left in the quarter. Over the next three minutes, the Quakers narrowly outscored the Marlins 6-4 to hold a 55-54 lead with 1:20 left in the game. Each team made two sets of free throws to bring the score to 57-56 with 21 seconds left. Wesleyan was able to force a turnover for Guilford, but was unable to convert the bucket. Then, the host made two clutch free throws to increase their lead to 59-56 and seal the win over VWU.
