LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior forward Shelbi Hendricks (Louisville, Ky. / Kentucky Country Day) paced four Generals in double-digits with 19 points and 13 rebounds as the Washington and Lee women's basketball team posted an 83-72 win over Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday at the Warner Center.

W&L (13-3, 6-2) never trailed in the contest, grabbing an early 8-2 lead on the strength of six straight points from first-year forward Emma Redding (Allentown, Pa. / Central Catholic) to open the game.

Virginia Wesleyan (11-6, 5-3) battled back to tie the game at 11-11 and 13-13 with 11:17 left in the first half, but the Generals used a 6-0 run to grab the lead for good at 19-13 following three free throws from senior guard Annie Gauf (Vienna, Va. / James Madison) at 10:06.  However, W&L could not pull away in the opening 20 minutes, carrying a 34-30 lead into the intermission.

The Blue & White maintained a two-point lead (36-34) until sophomore guard Jackie Clifford (Tenafly, N.J. / Tenafly) jumped started a 13-0 run over the next 3:01 that extended the Generals' advantage to 15 points (49-34) with 13:46 left to play.  Hendricks did much of the damage for W&L, scoring eight points during the decisive spurt.

A layup by senior guard Andrea Paphites (Virginia Beach, Va. / Princess Anne) cut the Generals' lead to single digits (51-42) at 11:09, but W&L had answers for each Marlins' attempt at a run and VWC got no closer than nine points (68-59) the rest of the way.

W&L committed just two turnovers in the first half and recovered from 36.7 percent (11-30) shooting in the opening half to shoot 53.8 percent (14-26) in the second half.  The Generals finished with 12 turnovers for the game, shooting 44.6 percent (25-56) from the floor and hitting 27-of-45 (.600) free throw attempts.

Hendricks' double-double was supplemented by 14 points from Clifford and a career-high 12 points from first-year forward Ailyn Kelly (Clifton, Va. / Centreville).  First-year guard Emily Perszyk (Greendale, Wis. / Greendale) chipped in 11 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field, all from beyond the arc.

Paphites tallied a game-high 26 points to lead the Marlins.  Senior guard Brittany Glasco (Fredericksburg, Va. / Massaponax) added 19 points and nine rebounds.

Washington and Lee returns to action on Tuesday when it hosts Roanoke College for a 7:00 pm contest.

-- www.generalssports.com --