NORFOLK, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team recovered from an early 15-point deficit to record a 65-58 victory over Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday afternoon at the Batten Center.

The Generals (12-9, 7-5) shot just 2-of-12 (.167) from the floor in the opening period and the Marlins (8-12, 6-6) took advantage, jumping out to a 19-5 lead at the end of the period on the strength of seven points from sophomore forward Naeemah Morris.

Virginia Wesleyan held a 22-7 advantage at the 8:09 mark of the second period, before W&L got things going on the offensive end.  The Generals used a 12-2 run, ignited by a three-pointer by senior guard Paige Corvino (Clarendon Hills, Ill. / Fenwick), to cut it to a five-point game (24-19) with 2:50 left in the half.  The Marlins then temporarily stopped the bleeding and carried a 28-22 lead into the halftime break.

VWC scored the first five points of the third period to stretch back out to an 11-point lead (33-22), but the Generals went on a 16-2 run over the next 5:05 to take their first lead since it was 2-0 at the 8:34 mark of the first quarter.  Corvino book-ended the run, starting things off with a three-pointer at the 8:26 mark and finishing it with a jumper at 3:21 that gave W&L a 38-35 lead.

The Marlins slowed the Generals' surge as junior guard Crystal Strother sandwiched a pair of three-pointers around a triple from Corvino to make it a 41-41 game with 2:13 left in the penultimate quarter.  However, W&L used another run, this time a 7-0 spurt, to grab a 48-41 lead entering the fourth period.  Sophomore forward Ailyn Kelly (Clifton, Va. / Centreville) scored the first four points and sophomore forward Emma Redding (Allentown, Pa. / Central Catholic) tallied a three-point play with 10 seconds left to cap the run.

Virginia Wesleyan sliced it to a four-point contest (53-49) on a three-pointer by first-year guard Jayla Harris at the 5:37 mark, but the Marlins could get no closer as the Generals went on to win their second straight contest.

W&L finished the game 25-of-55 (.455) from the floor and the Generals held a 46-32 advantage on the boards.  Additionally, the Blue & White tallied 17 assists on its 25 made field goals.  Kelly led the way with 21 points, nine rebounds and four assists.  She went 9-of-14 from the field.  Corvino notched a season-best 15 points and nine boards.

Virginia Wesleyan was limited to just 21-of-64 (.328) shooting in the contest.  Senior guard Kelly Jones totaled a team-high 14 points, while junior forward Alexis Platt had 12 points and five boards.  Morris added 11 points.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Bridgewater for a 6:00 pm contest.

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