College Women’s Basketball Final – Virginia Wesleyan 57, Guilford 53

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – Nancy Kelly led Virginia Wesleyan College with 17 points as Guilford College fell to the Marlins in a Saturday afternoon Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) contest, 57-53.

Guilford held a four-point lead nine minutes into the contest after both teams frequently traded the lead. Virginia Wesleyan then manufactured an 8-0 run over the next 1:55 to claim a four point lead of their own. Guilford marched back to close the deficit to within two at the buzzer. Both teams traded the lead again in the second half until the Marlins produced a 6-0 run in a 3:03 stretch of the late second half to create distance from the Quakers.

Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) led all scorers with a career-high 26 points with three assists on 12-of-23 shooting. Brittany Drew (Greensboro, N.C./Page) added nine points and three steals.

The Quakers shot 35.4 percent for the contest, including 40.6 in the first half. The Marlins shot 34.5 percent with 38.5 percent effort in the second frame. Virginia Wesleyan capitalized on trips to the foul line, shooting 11-of-15 for the contest while the Quakers shot 4-of-5 from the line.

The Marlins out-rebounded the Quakers, 48-35. Kali Cuttaia (Eden, N.C./Morehead/Univ. of Charleston (W. Va.)) led the Quakers on the glass with 12 rebounds. Kerri Taylor led the Marlins with 12 rebounds while Brittany Glasco added 11 rebounds, including seven on the offensive glass.

Guilford turned 14 Marlin turnovers into nine points while Virginia Wesleyan turned nine Quaker turnovers into 10 points. The Quakers used 12 offensive rebounds to produce nine points while the Marlins used 18 offensive rebounds to manufacture 14 points.

The Quakers return to action next Saturday, December 13th, to host William Peace University for a 2 p.m. contest inside Ragan-Brown Field House.