College Women’s Basketball Final – Guilford 58, Lynchburg 48

GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College’s Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) posted her ninth double-double of the season as the Quakers claimed a Wednesday evening Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over Lynchburg College, 58-48.

The Quakers held the Hornets to just three field goals in the first 15 minutes of the contest, jumping to a 14-3 advantage in the first five minutes of the first quarter. The Quakers closed the period with their largest lead of the quarter, 13 points. Lynchburg committed seven turnovers while the Quakers only committed three while shooting nine-of-15 from the field in the period.

Guilford’s lead jumped to 18 points 1:07 into the second quarter and hit 18 one more time in the period as the Quakers kept their lead steady throughout. They closed the quarter with a 14-point lead while holding the Hornets to just 22.2 percent shooting in the period. Guilford shot 41.7 percent for the quarter. Lynchburg forced eight Guilford turnovers while the Quakers forced six Hornets’ miscues in the period.

Lynchburg chipped away at the Guilford lead in the third quarter, producing an 11-2 run spanning a 4:20 stretch of the first portion of the period to cut the lead to five points. The Hornets cut the Guilford lead down as low as three points with 1:56 left in the period, but the Quakers closed the final minute with four straight points to bump the lead back to seven. Lynchburg shot 37.5 percent while Guilford shot 30.8 percent off of four field goals.

The Hornets took the lead back down to five to open the fourth quarter, but the Quakers’s defense took over, holding the Hornets to only four field goals in the period while shooting five-of-eight on the offensive end of the court. The Guilford lead ballooned back to 12 points with 3:13 left in the period as the Quakers assisted on all five fourth-quarter field goals on the way to victory.

Weatherly led all scorers with 13 points on six-of-16 shooting while pulling down 12 rebounds and posted four assists with three steals. Amy Steller (Advance, N.C./Davie/Pfeiffer) posted eight points and six rebounds while Heaven Walters (Elkin, N.C./Starmount) also added eight points and three rebounds.

Molly Shepherd led the Hornets with 12 points on five-of-nine shooting. Sarah Coronel added nine points with four assists.

Guilford finished the contest shooting 47.9 percent while Lynchburg finished shooting 29.3 percent. The Quakers held a slight 36-35 edge in on the glass, warding off Lynchburg’s 14 offensive rebounds. Guilford posted 25 turnovers compared to Lynchburg’s 22.

However, the Quakers earned a 19-15 edge in points-off-turnovers. Guilford claimed a 32-16 edge in the paint while Lynchburg posted a 7-4 advantage in second-chance points. The Guilford bench out-scored Lynchburg’s reserves, 20-10.

The Quakers take to the road Saturday afternoon, facing Randolph-Macon College for a 2 p.m. ODAC contest.