GREENSBORO, N.C. – Guilford College overcame a 17-point first-quarter deficit to claim a Saturday afternoon Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory over Virginia Wesleyan College in the regular-season finale, 64-60.
Virginia Wesleyan opened the first five minutes of the contest with a 12-4 lead and built on the lead in the latter part of the quarter thanks to an 11-2 run that lasted the final 5:09 of the first quarter. Amy Steller (Advance, N.C./Davie County/Pfeffier) broke the run with a three-pointer at the buzzer to end a first quarter where the Marlins scored 23 points. The three-pointer sparked an 8-1 run to last the first 1:56 of the second quarter. Both sides dueled in the middle of the period, but the Quakers turned the momentum in their direction, manufacturing a 14-4 run over the final 5:29 of the period to cut the Marlins’ lead to four points at halftime.
Guilford cut the deficit to one point twice in the first five minutes of the third quarter and tied the contest once, but Virginia Wesleyan held by pushing their lead back to four points in the closing stages of the period. The Quakers tied the contest, 49-49, 1:16 into the fourth quarter, but the Marlins extended their lead back to five points 1:40 later in the period as the Quakers endured a 3:28 stretch without points. Guilford answered and resurrected their offense in an 11-0 run lasting a 2:55 span after the half-way point in the period to extend their lead to six points, their largest advantage of the contest. Guilford pulled their advantage back to six points near the final minute and kept the advantage to the end of the contest.
Lauren Ramsey (Lexington, N.C./North Davidson) led the Quakers with 17 points on seven-of-14 shooting. Anais Weatherly (Winston-Salem, N.C./Mount Tabor) was the remaining Quakers’ player in double-figure scoring with 11 points while adding nine rebounds, three assists, and three steals. Heaven Walters (Yadkinville, N.C./Starmount) led the Quakers on the glass with 12 rebounds to complement six points.
Kelly Jones led the Marlins with 18 points on five-of-11 shooting while Jayla Harris totaled 16 points and seven rebounds. The tandem totaled 34 of the Marlins’ 43 points from their starting lineup.
The Quakers shot 38.9 percent from the field, bolstered by 60 percent second-quarter shooting. Guilford shot above 40 percent for each quarter in the second half. The Marlins shot 31.7 percent in the contest and shot below 30 percent twice. The Quakers shot 31.6 percent (six-of-19) from beyond the arc while the Marlins shot 50 percent (nine-of-18).
The Marlins out-rebounded the Quakers, 47-38, thanks to 15 offensive rebounds and held an 11-7 edge on second-chance points. Guilford’s inside offense held a large advantage in the paint, 33-14, and held a slight 19-14 edge in points off turnovers.
The Quakers earned the second-seed in the upcoming Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament where they will face the winner of Monday’s first round contest between Randolph-Macon College and Shenandoah University. Guilford’s quarterfinal matchup is set for Thursday at 6 p.m. inside the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va.
Virginia Wesleyan vs Guilford
02/20/16 2:00 pm at Greensboro, NC – Ragan-Brown Field House
GUILFORD 64
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN 60
VIRGINIA WESLEYAN (8-15, 6-9 ODAC): JONES, Kelly 5-11 3-6 18; HARRIS, Jayla 6-14 3-3 16; PLATT, Alexis 3-7 3-6 9; GRAINER, Kasey 2-4 2-4 8; STROTHER, Crystal 2-13 0-0 5; MORRIS, Naeemah 1-5 2-2 4; PHILLIPS, Kellen 0-2 0-0 0; WASHINGTON, Jaelyn 0-4 0-0 0. Totals 19-60 13-21 60.
GUILFORD (18-4, 12-3 ODAC): RAMSEY, Lauren 7-14 2-2 17; WEATHERLY, Anais 5-14 0-2 11; STELLER, Amy 3-7 2-3 9; CLARK, Kate 3-7 0-0 9; WALTERS, Heaven 3-7 0-0 6; ABRAHAM, Essence 1-7 3-4 5; SCOTT, Kayla 0-1 3-4 3; BROWN, Jordyn 1-2 0-0 2; RICHARDSON, Jordyn 1-2 0-0 2; BREEDLOVE, Ymani 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 24-61 10-15 64.
Virginia Wesleyan............. 23 11 15 11 - 60 Guilford...................... 9 21 15 19 - 64
3-point goals–Virginia Wesleyan 9-18 (JONES, Kelly 5-7; GRAINER, Kasey 2-3; HARRIS, Jayla 1-3; STROTHER, Crystal 1-4; PHILLIPS, Kellen 0-1), Guilford 6-19 (CLARK, Kate 3-6; RAMSEY, Lauren 1-3; STELLER, Amy 1-3; WEATHERLY, Anais 1-3; ABRAHAM, Essence 0-3; WALTERS, Heaven 0-1).
Fouled out–Virginia Wesleyan-None, Guilford-None.
Rebounds–Virginia Wesleyan 47 (MORRIS, Naeemah 9), Guilford 38 (WALTERS, Heaven 12).
Assists–Virginia Wesleyan 9 (HARRIS, Jayla 2; MORRIS, Naeemah 2; STROTHER, Crystal 2), Guilford 12 (RAMSEY, Lauren 3; WEATHERLY, Anais 3).
Total fouls–Virginia Wesleyan 19, Guilford 18.
Technical fouls–Virginia Wesleyan-None, Guilford-None.
Old Dominion Athletic Conference game
Guilford is ranked 2nd in this week’s NCAA Division III South Region Poll