The Virginia Wesleyan University women's basketball team (9-6, 3-3 ODAC) defeated conference opponent Roanoke 74-50.
Brianna Long led the team with another double-double as she tallied 19 points shooting 9-for-13 from the field, grabbed 15 rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Keira Bagwell had a stellar night, scoring 15 points shooting 4-for-10 from the field, 2-for-5 from deep, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line, with four rebounds, one assist, one block, and one steal.
Maesyn Blaylock led the team with five assists, she also scored nine points, shooting 3-for-7 from the floor and 3-for-3 from the charity stripe, she had four rebounds, and one steal.
Virginia Wesleyan started well, jumping out to a 6-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes of the game, but the Maroons responded with a 5-0 run in the next 82 seconds to take a 7-6 lead. Virginia Wesleyan countered with a 7-0 run to take a 13-7 lead with 3:36 left in the quarter. Roanoke responded with a bucket to stop the run, but the Marlins kept the pressure on and finished the quarter on an 8-0 run to lead 21-9 after the first ten minutes.
The start of the second quarter was hard fought as the Marlins outscored the Maroons 4-3 to lead 25-12. However, Roanoke responded with a 10-2 run to cut the lead to 27-22 with 3:32 left in the first half. The Marlins finished out the half with a 5-3 run to hold a 32-25 lead into the break.
After halftime, Virginia Wesleyan started the half on a 6-3 run to take a 38-28 lead at the 7:56 mark, but the Maroons responded with a 5-0 run to bring the score to 38-33. However, over the next three minutes, the Marlins went on a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 45-35. Over the final minutes of the quarter, the Marlins outscored the Maroons 7-5 to lead 52-40 heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, the Marlins came out hot, stringing together a 5-0 run to lead 57-40 in the first minutes of the frame, but Roanoke countered with a 4-2 run to cut the lead to 59-44 at the 8:17 mark in the quarter. The Marlins' defense was spectacular over the next three minutes as they went on a 7-0 rally to lead 66-44 with 4:55 left in the game. In the last five minutes of the game, VWU outscored the Maroons 8-6 to seal the 74-50 win.
