The Virginia Wesleyan University women's basketball team (10-6, 4-3 ODAC) defeated conference rival Randolph-Macon 71-61.
The Marlins' offense was led by
Keira Bagwell, who scored 20 points shooting 6-for-13 from the floor, 3-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-6 from the free throw line, and had three rebounds, and one assist.
Bre Robinson tallied 15 points, shooting 5-for-9 from the field, 5-for-10 from the charity stripe, had five rebounds, two assists, one block, and one assist.
Brianna Long had 15 points shooting 5-for-9 from the floor and 5-for-5 from the free throw line, she registered another double-double with 15 rebounds, had one assist, and one block.
Virginia Wesleyan started hot, jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Yellow Jackets finally got on the board at the 6:35 mark in the first to bring the score to 9-1. VWU outscored RMC 4-3 the rest of the quarter to lead 13-4 heading into the second quarter.
The Marlins came out in the second half well and were able to string together an 8-2 run to lead 21-6 at the 7:29 mark in the second frame. The Yellow Jackets fought back, going on an 8-4 run to bring the score to 25-14 with 4:08 left in the half, but Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 32-16 at the 2:05 mark. Randolph-Macon ended the half going on a 6-2 run to bring the score to 34-22 at halftime.
Coming out of the break, the two teams traded buckets that brought the score to 40-29 at the 5:45 mark in the third quarter. The Yellow Jackets turned up the pressure over the next three minutes, going on a 10-5 run to cut the Marlins' lead to 45-39 with 1:52 left in the quarter. To close out the quarter, Randolph-Macon outscored the Marlins 4-3 to cut the lead to 48-43 heading into the final frame.
To start the fourth quarter, the Marlins went on a 6-3 run to build their lead to 54-46 at the 7:29 mark. Over the next three minutes, RMC outscored the Marlins 5-4 to bring the score to 58-51 with 4:08 left in the game. However, the Marlins responded with a 6-0 run to increase their lead to 64-51 at the 2:43 mark. In the final two minutes of the game, the Yellow Jackets outscored Virginia Wesleyan 10-7, however, the Marlins' lead was too much to overcome, and VWU sealed the 71-61 win over RMC.
