LEXINGTON, Va. – A thrilling end to regulation resulted in an 84-80 loss in overtime for the Washington and Lee women's basketball team in ODAC action against Emory & Henry on Sunday evening.
 
Trailing by three points with 18 seconds remaining in the game, the Generals (3-3, 2-1 ODAC) got the ball back and put it in the hands of senior guard Taylor Casey (Brentwood, Tenn./Franklin Road Academy). From beyond the arc, Casey pump-faked to clear herself from a defender and nailed a game-tying three-point shot with 13 seconds remaining.
 
After a pair of E&H (6-1, 1-0 ODAC) free throws on the ensuing possession, the Generals were left with seven seconds for one final shot. Sophomore guard Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) found senior forward Andy Smithey (Charlotte, N.C./Saint Mary's School) in the paint. Smithey bobbled at first, but regained possession, got off a turnaround jumper and sank the shot at the buzzer to force overtime.
 
Over the first three minutes of the extra period, the Generals gained a two-point lead, but the Wasps fought back and ended the game on an 8-2 run to secure the win.
 
Down three points early in the first quarter, the Generals used a 10-2 run to pull ahead, 17-12, with 2:29 remaining, before extending the lead to seven points by the end of the quarter. The Wasps' defense went on to hold the W&L offense in check in the second, outscoring the Blue and White, 18-10, to take a 34-33 lead into halftime.
 
In the third, E&H pulled ahead, 40-36, with 7:53 left in the frame, before a layup from junior guard Erin Hughes (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) sparked an 8-0 W&L run to give the Generals the lead back at 44-40. W&L extended its lead to as high as eight points with 7:54 remaining in the game, but the Wasps battled back to take the lead and set up Casey's and Smithey's game-tying shots.
 
Smithey paced the offense with a season-high 20 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field and also pulled down six rebounds and came away with three steals. Hughes scored 16 points and added three steals as well, while Casey scored 15 points. Casey vaulted up to 11th on the program's all-time points list with her performance (1,041), passing Jackie Clifford '17.
 
Sophomore guard Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) highlighted the Generals' work on the glass in the game, as she grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, marking the most rebounds in a single game since Becca Bolton '12 secured 19 boards at Guilford on December 2, 2010.
 
For the Wasps, senior forward Peyton Williams scored a game-high 24 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor and connected on 12-of-14 free throw attempts. Junior guard Kylea Cooper added 14 points and two steals, while senior forward Kara Stafford scored 13 points and tallied six rebounds.
 
For the game, the Wasps shot 40.3 percent (25-62) from the floor, including 40 percent (6-15) from beyond the arc, and made 82.4 percent (28-34) of their foul shots. The Generals made 36.8 percent (28-76) of their shots, 32.1 percent (9-28) on three-point attempts and 68.2 percent (15-22) on free throws. E&H held advantages for the game in bench points (17-13) and points in the paint (30-26), while W&L led in second-chance points (11-10) and points off turnovers (28-23).
 
The Generals will return to action on Wednesday when they travel to Hollins for a 7:00 pm ODAC matchup.