Virginia Wesleyan College, fresh off their defeat of Old Dominion Athletic Conference preseason #1 Randolph-Macon College, came into Yoder Arena and used timely shooting to defeat the Eastern Mennonite University women's basketball team 63-57 on Saturday afternoon.

The Marlins remain unbeaten with a 4-0 overall record and a 2-0 mark in the ODAC. EMU suffers its first loss of the year and now stands at 6-1, 2-1 in the conference.

"When we made a mistake they burned us," explained head coach Kevin Griffin. "We just couldn't get that 'shot' to push us over the top, and give them credit. They came in here well coached and executed their gameplan."

Danielle Scott (Summit, NJ/Summit) scored a career-high 25 points while pulling down 11 rebounds for the double-double. Ebony Dennis (Baltimore, Md./Western) scored eight points while registering a career-high 17 rebounds (4 offensive - 13 defensive). Dennis was two defensive rebounds short of tying an EMU record of 15 set back during the 1975-76 season.

Andrea Ushinski paced the Marlins with 16 points, 14 of which came in the second half. ODAC Player of the Week Tonia Jones had 11 points and four rebounds.

EMU started off strong in the first period with the Lady Royals quickly taking a 7-3 lead (16:48). A layup by Ushinski and a three-pointer by Jones turned the tables with the visiting team up by one (8-7). The Lady Royals continued to trail for the remainder of the half with Virginia Wesleyan going up by 10 points (23-13) before heading into the locker room up 31-26.

The Lady Royals committed 13 turnovers in the first half and shot only 30 percent from the floor (10-of-33).

Turnovers and missed opportunities were again the story for EMU throughout the second frame as the Marlins took advantage of their deft touch from behind the arc. Virginia Wesleyan dropped in six three-pointers in the first half and followed that up with another four in the second. EMU received a big boost on back-to-back three-pointers from Brittany Snyder (Raphine, Va./Riverheads) and Dennis with just over 15 minutes remaining. Ushinski followed that up with one of her two long balls on the day to put the Marlins back on top by six (45-39). EMU cut the deficit down to two points on a layup by Addie Bashorun (Manassas, Va./Brentsville District) only to have Virginia Wesleyan respond with a three by Jill Weston.

The Marlins went up by 12 points (57-45) with just under seven minutes to go. Baskets from Kathleen Kitchen (Gainesville, Va./Brentsville District), Dennis, and Scott cut the Marlin lead in half with 1:48 on the clock. EMU forced the Marlins to the line, fouling them at each opportunity. Virginia Wesleyan sank just enough free throws in the final 1:30 (6-of-8) to keep the Lady Royals at bay and ice the win.

Weston finished with nine points for VWC.

Kitchen had seven points in a losing effort for the Lady Royals.

"We played hard, but we didn't play intellegent. Our mistakes were costly and (Virginia) Wesleyan was able to take advantage. We have to make smarter decisions with the basketball and play our style of game. It was there for the first few minutes of the game and then it just disappeared. We have to get back to that type of tempo to be successful."

EMU will return home next Saturday, December 13, for a 2 p.m., non-conference battle with the Cougars of Averett University.