The Eastern Mennonite University women's basketball team secured the number three seed in next weeks Old Dominion Athletic Conference Tournament with a 53-51 win over Virginia Wesleyan that again featured a last second shot between the two teams. EMU defeated VWC 54-53 earlier this season when a last second three-pointer by the Marlins missed the mark.

The Lady Royals jumped out to an early 8-0 lead with the Marlins scoring their first basket almost five minutes into the contest. EMU controlled the first half with VWC chipping away at the Lady Royals lead late to close with a 31-21 deficit.

Sophomore forward Carolyn Riley (Warrenton, Va.) scored 10 of her game-high 20 points in the first half with freshman guard Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md.) chipping in another eight points while pulling down seven boards. Dennis finished with 12 points and four steals for EMU which enters the ODAC tournament with a 17-7 record overall and a 15-5 record ODAC.

Virginia Wesleyan falls to 19-6 overall and 16-4 in the conference but will enter the tournament as the number two seed.

The Marlins were led by Taylor Lowe who finished with 13 points while Andrea Ushinski had five points and a team-high nine rebounds.

In the second half Virginia Wesleyan started to flex their offensive muscle as the Marlins shrank a 12-point EMU lead down to one point with 12:43 remaining. Both teams battled to pull ahead until the games final seconds with EMU taking possession of the lead on a basket by Dennis. Virginia Wesleyan tried for a last second basket after a missed EMU free-throw but the Marlins were unable to get the shot off when the clocked hit zero.

Sophomore forward Kathleen Steele (Gainsville, Va.) had seven points and a team-high 10 rebounds for EMU.

The Lady Royals now enter the ODAC tournament on Friday, February 23, with EMU scheduled to play the number six seed at 8 p.m.