The Virginia Wesleyan University women's basketball team (11-7, 5-4 ODAC) defeated conference opponent Averett 70-62 on the road.
The Marlins offense was led by
Sydney Turner, who had 16 points, shot 3-for-5 from the field, and was 10-for-10 from the free throw line, she had four rebounds, one assist, and two steals.
Bre Robinson tallied 15 points, shooting 5-for-12 from the field, and 5-for-5 from the charity stripe, with six rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Keira Bagwell recorded 14 points shooting 4-for-11 from the field, 2-for-5 from beyond the arc, and 4-for-4 from the free throw line, with four rebounds, and two assists.
The start of the game was hard fought as neither team was able to pull ahead with a 6-6 score at the 5:49 mark in the first quarter. The Cougars struck first and went on a 4-0 run to hold a 10-6 lead with less than five minutes in the quarter. Virginia Wesleyan responded with a 7-3 run over the next three minutes to tie the game at 13-13 with 1:21 left in the frame. VWU made two free throws with three seconds left in the quarter to lead 14-13, but Averett hit a three-pointer in the final seconds to lead 16-15 after quarter one.
Averett kept up their momentum in the second quarter, with a 5-0 run to start and extend their lead to 21-15. The Marlins chipped away at the Cougars lead over the next three minutes, outscoring the host 9-7 to cut the lead to 28-24 with 6:08 left in the first half. However, Averett responded with a 7-2 run to extend their lead to 35-26 at the 3:34 mark. VWU finished the quarter on a 4-0 run to cut the lead to 35-30 heading into the break.
Coming out of halftime, the Cougars started hot, stringing together an 8-2 run to increase their lead to 43-32 at the 7:40 mark, but Virginia Wesleyan rallied, going on a 13-2 run over the next 4:41 to tie the game at 45-45 with 2:44 left in the third quarter. Averett responded, outscoring Virginia Wesleyan 5-3 the rest of the quarter to hold a 50-48 lead heading into the final frame.
In the fourth quarter, both teams fought hard in the first five minutes as both teams scored seven points to bring the score to 57-55 with 5:37 left in the game. Scoring was minimal over the next two minutes, but the Marlins managed to outscore the Cougars 4-2 to tie the game at 59-59 at the 2:20 mark in the quarter. Over the next minute,
Sydney Turner and the Marlins drew three fouls and went 6-for-6 to take a 65-59 lead over the host with 33 seconds left in the game. Averett responded with a three-pointer to cut the lead to 65-62 with 19 seconds left in the game. To conserve time, Averett fouled, but the Marlins played strong defense, and clutch free throw shooting sealed the 70-62 win over Averett.
