LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team used a 23-4 run across the first and second periods to record a 73-56 victory over Eastern Mennonite on Saturday afternoon at the Warner Center.

The win, W&L's sixth straight, clinched the No. 4 seed for the ODAC Tournament and will give the Generals (16-9, 11-5) a first-round bye. 

The Royals (17-7, 10-6) held a 9-7 lead with 4:09 left in the first quarter, but the Generals turned up the defensive pressure, forcing EMU to miss each of its next 11 shots from the field and forcing three turnovers as it pushed out to a 30-13 lead with 4:22 left in the first half.  On the other end of the court, five different players scored for W&L during the run, led by senior guard Alena Hamrick (Roanoke, Va. / Hidden Valley), who tallied seven points.  Sophomore center Emma Redding (Allentown, Pa. / Central Catholic) added five points during the decisive run.

Eastern Mennonite used a 7-2 spurt to cut it to a 12-point game (32-20) with 3:05 left in the half, but the Generals closed with a 13-0 run to assume a 45-20 lead at the break.  Hamrick did much of the damage, ending the half with a pair of three-pointers in the final 43 seconds.

The Royals started the third period with a 10-2 run to slice the W&L advantage to 17 points (47-30) at the 6:45 mark, but EMU could get no closer and the Generals had pushed the lead back to 23 points (63-40) following a jumper by junior guard Jackie Clifford (Tenafly, N.J. / Tenafly) early in the fourth period.  The Royals got no closer than 17 points the rest of the way.

W&L shot 39.7 percent (29-73) from the floor, while holding the Royals to just 33.3 percent (20-60).  The Generals also received 37 points off the bench and committed just eight turnovers in the game.

Redding finished with a game-high 18 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the floor.  She also grabbed six rebounds and had three blocks.  Hamrick tallied a season-high 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting from distance and Clifford notched 12 points and four blocks.  Senior forward Shelbi Hendricks (Louisville, Ky. / Kentucky Country Day) totaled a double-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds, three blocks and three assists, while sophomore forward Ailyn Kelly (Clifton, Va. / Centreville) chipped in eight points and eight boards.

Senior forward Jess Rheinheimer (Manheim, Pa. / Lancaster Mennonite) and first-year guard Lindsey Krisak (Alexandria, Va. / Edison) each scored 12 points to lead the Royals.  Junior center Jonae Guest (Dumfries, Va. / Potomac) added six points and 10 rebounds.

W&L will return to action in the quarterfinals on Thursday when it takes on either fifth-seeded EMU or 12th-seeded Hollins at 3:00 pm.

-- http://www.generalssports.com --