VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (1/27/07) -- Nicole Thurston knows opponents expect to see her take the ball inside to score for the Virginia Wesleyan College Marlins.

On Saturday the senior leader from Ramstein, Germany (American) came through with something the Guilford College Quakers did not expect ... a three-pointer from outside the line in the right corner of the Donald M. Forsyth court in the Jane P. Batten Center.

Thurston's triple, only her second of the season, capped a torrid shooting start for the Marlins, who connected on 13 of their first 15 field goal attempts to establish a solid lead they rode to an impressive 83-48 Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) victory.

Virginia Wesleyan, now 16-4 overall and 13-2 in the league, utilized scoring from seven different players in that start, which gave the Marlins a 31-10 lead when Thurston hit the three-pointer with six minutes remaining in the first half. Guilford (7-12, 6-8) struggled against the VWC pressure defense and hit only six of its first 19 shots, including six three-point attempts.

The Marlins actually missed six consecutive shots after that big start, before rookie Tonia Jones rolled in for a layup. But, the Quakers could not gain much ground and trailed 37-16 at halftime.

Joclyn Terry and Tracey Croner scored a couple of early baskets to keep the Quakers within 20 points in the opening minutes of the second half. It didn't help much however, as Virginia Wesleyan put together a 17-7 scoring surge, led by junior Heather Phillips with eight points, to open up a 57-27 lead with 10:52 remaining to be played.

The Quakers pulled it back under the 30-point margin briefly, only to see Virginia Wesleyan use a 12-3 run to post its largest lead of the game at 77-39 with less than three minutes on the clock. Sophomore Jill Weston nailed a triple in the final run, which included baskets from seniors Michelle Dove and Lauren Rector and rookie Maggie Smith.

Balanced offense has been a key in Virginia Wesleyan's recent run of 13 victories in 15 outings and it was evident again Saturday as 12 of the 13 Marlins who played ended up in the scoring column. The Marlins hit 50.8 percent of their shots, led by Thurston's 8-of-10 effort en route to tying her career-high of 20 points. Phillips hit 6-of-8 attempts en route to 12 points and Dove nailed 4-of-6, including two triples, to tally 10 points.

Thurston emerged with a career-high sixth double-double of the season, complementing her game-leading point total with a game-leading 10 rebounds. Virginia Wesleyan outrebounded Guilford 44-30 overall.

Croner led Guilford scoring with 15 points, hitting 7-of-11 from the field. She shared team-leading rebounding honors with Jessica Casto, each with five. Casto also dished out four assists.

-Story courtesty of Virginia Wesleyan Sports Information.