Salem Basketball traveled to Virginia where they played in another non-conference tilt against Mary Baldwin. Ultimately, the Squirrels bested the Spirits with a 63-41 final score.

Salem took an early two-point lead thanks to Lauren Ringwood and Nicole Hester. Despite some early points, it took until nearly six minutes for either team's offense to start heating up. Two threes spurred MBU onto an eight-point run, providing them with a five point lead. Ringwood and Hester kept up their solid first quarter scoring to keep it to a two possession game heading into the second frame.

Quarter two came with offensive struggles for the Spirits, who were unable to get their shots to fall. A bright spot in the quarter were the four steals from Salem picked up by Amy Pedroza, Cristina Battistini, and Hester. While the Spirits worked hard defensively, the Squirrels built a solid lead heading into halftime. 

MBU got off to a hot start, knocking down a three and a layup in the first 30 seconds. Salem was finally able to find some momentum again, with a steal from Pedroza resulting in a layup from Hester, assisted by Triana Smallwood. Battistini continued her solid shooting from the charity stripe, hitting both free throws shortly after. Keniya Waring followed suit, earning a trip to the line after a strong play off the board and a solid fast break. An and-one from Battistini kept the Spirits rolling late in the quarter, out-scoring the Squirrels 8-2 in the final four minutes. 

Despite some more offensive difficulties early in the quarter, Salem continued to shoot free throws well, with eight of their 12 points in the final frame coming from the line. Lauren Ringwood found the final four points in the paint, closing out her 14-point performance to top the stat sheet for the Spirits. Amy Pedroza led in steals and assists with two and four respectively, while Nicole Hester grabbed nine rebounds. Additionally, Hester, Ringwood, and Battistini all put up a block.

The Spirits will next be in action in a rescheduled matchup at William Peace on Friday January 23rd at 6pm.