SALEM, Va. – Symonne Newsome’s layup with six seconds left in overtime gave fourth-seeded Virginia Wesleyan College the final lead as fifth-seed Guilford College fell, 78-77, in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Quarterfinals at the Salem Civic Center Friday afternoon.
Both teams traded leads throughout the first ten minutes of the contest with both sides shooting above 46 percent from field to open the game. The Marlins reached the largest lead of the first half (five points) thanks to an 8-0 run lasting 3:46 in the middle of the period to counter a three-point Quaker lead prior to the run. The Quakers (17-10) erased the lead at the 6:26 mark to tie the game, but took the advantage with 1:16 left thanks to a 7-0 run in the final 3:08 of the period.
Guilford extended their run to 11 points in start the second half to extend their advantage to seven. The Quakers extended their largest lead to ten halfway through the frame before the Marlins methodically chipped away at the deficit. Brittany Glasco sunk a layup with five seconds left for Virginia Wesleyan, forcing the game into overtime. With the Quakers down one with 41 seconds left in overtime, Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) sunk a jumper to give the Quakers a one-point lead before Newsome’s layup led the Marlins to the victory.
Weatherly led all scorers with 17 points while adding seven rebounds and five steals. Lauren Ramsey (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) added 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting and pulled down four rebounds. Kali Cuttaia (Eden, N.C./Morehead/Univ. of Charleston (W. Va.)) also scored 15 points while securing five rebounds and blocking three shots.
Brittany Glasco led the Marlins with a double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds while adding seven assists. Andrea Paphites led Marlin scorers with 16 points while Newsome totaled 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting and added five steals.
The Quakers shot 46.9 percent for the contest while the Marlins shot 43.8 percent from the field. Guilford shot 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) from three-point range to best the Marlins’ 33.3 percent (7-of-21) shooting from beyond the arc. Guilford went 11-of-17 (65.4 percent) from the foul line while Virginia Wesleyan shot 15-of-18 (83.3 percent) from the charity stripe.
The Quakers held the rebounding edge, 38-36, with the Marlins holding the advantage in second-chance points, 18-13, and holding a slight edge on the offensive glass, 12-11. Guilford held a narrow edge in points off of turnovers, 16-15, with the Quakers committing 21 turnovers and the Marlins committing 19 miscues.