BUENA VISTA, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team mounted a fourth quarter comeback, but the rally came up just short in a 69-63 loss at Southern Virginia on Monday evening.
The loss drops the Generals' overall record to 4-5, while the Knights improve to 8-2 overall with the win.
Trailing by eight points at the start of the fourth quarter, the Knights extended their lead to nine points at the 7:03 mark. The Generals then went on an 11-3 run to cut the SVU lead down to 61-60 with 3:09 remaining. But SVU closed the game on an 8-3 run to hold on for the win.
After both sides went back and forth for a majority of the opening frame, the Generals went on a 7-0 run and scored nine of the final 11 points of the quarter to take a 22-16 lead into the second. The Knights responded, however, by scoring the first 10 points of the second and went on to outscore the Generals, 18-6, in the quarter to take a 34-28 halftime advantage.
A layup by senior forward
Andy Smithey (Charlotte, N.C./Saint Mary's School) cut the SVU lead to one at 41-40 with 3:59 remaining in the third, but the Knights closed the quarter on a 12-5 run to push their lead back up eight points.
The Generals were led on offense by senior guard
Taylor Casey (Brentwood, Tenn./Franklin Road Academy), who scored 23 points and connected on 6-of-13 three-point attempts. With her 23 points, Casey passed Chrissy Burghardt '99 for 10th place on the all-time points list (1,088).
Junior guard
Erin Hughes (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) chipped in 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor, and added seven boards, two assists, two blocks and a steal. Sophomore guard
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) scored eight points, pulled down 10 rebounds, dished out three assists and came away with four steals.
SVU senior guard Cory Stout scored a team-high 14 points and had five assists and three steals. Junior forwards Savanna Christensen and Katie Garrish each recorded a double-double, with Christensen posting 13 points and 11 rebounds, while Garrish tallied 10 points and 12 boards.
The Knights shot 37.1 percent (26-70) from the floor in the game and limited the Generals to 33.8 percent (22-65). SVU also edged W&L in points off turnovers (12-10), second-chance points (12-8), bench points (22-5) and points in the paint (32-16).
The Generals will return to action on Sunday, December 29, when they take on Rose-Hulman on the first day of the Music City Classic in Nashville, Tenn. The game will be played at Trevecca Nazarene University and is scheduled to tip off at 2:00 pm ET/1:00 pm CT.
