WINCHESTER, Va. – Two big runs in the first half propelled the Washington and Lee women's basketball team to a program-record eighth straight win, 65-57, at Shenandoah in Wednesday night ODAC action.
 
With the win, the Generals advance to 13-6 overall and 10-2 in the ODAC, while the Hornets fall to 11-7 overall and 7-4 in league play.
 
The Hornets opened the game with a jumper and were able to keep the Generals without a field goal for more than two minutes. However, a pair of free throws from senior forward Andy Smithey (Charlotte, N.C./Saint Mary's School) ignited a 17-2 W&L run to put the Generals up, 17-4, mid-way through the period, helping W&L to a 24-13 lead through one quarter.
 
The Generals kept the pressure on the Hornets, opening the second quarter on an 11-2 run to gain a 35-15 lead at the 6:29 mark. Shenandoah recovered quickly with an 11-2 run of its own to get back to an 11-point deficit, but hot shooting from W&L propelled the Generals ahead, 42-27, heading into halftime.
 
W&L ballooned its lead to 55-34 in third quarter but the Hornets got back in the game with a 12-0 run. Senior guard Taylor Casey (Brentwood, Tenn./Franklin Road Academy) hit a floater in the lane just before the buzzer to end the run, leaving the Generals ahead by 11 going into the fourth quarter.
 
Shenandoah continued to fight, cutting the W&L lead to just six with 7:44 remaining in the game, but the Generals scored the next eight points to run their lead back to 65-51 with just over three minutes left. The Hornets ended the game with six straight points, but the Generals were able to hang on for the win.
 
Casey and Smithey led the way for the W&L offense with 17 points each. Casey scored 11 of her 17 in the third quarter and made six foul shots in the game to move into 10th place on the program's all-time made free throws list (222). Smithey's 17 came on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, and she added two rebounds, two assists and two steals.
 
Junior guard Erin Hughes (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) and sophomore guard Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) also performed well for the Blue and White, as Hughes scored 13 points and had five rebounds and four steals. Horn added 12 points and 10 rebounds for her second straight double-double, while she assisted on four made buckets.
 
For the Hornets, sophomore forward Olivia Weinel scored a team-high 17 points on 7-of-13 from the floor, with three rebounds and a steal. Sophomore guard Kelsey Jones contributed 11 points and made 3-of-6 shots from beyond the arc.
 
For the game, the Generals shot 38.2 percent (21-55) from the field and made 8-of-23 (.348) three-point shots and 15-of-17 (.882) from the foul line. The Hornets sank 41.4 percent (24-58) shots in the game, but were limited to 28.6 percent (4-14) from long range and 62.5 percent (5-8) on foul shots.
 
Both teams scored 21 points off turnovers, W&L held the edge in second-chance points (13-6) and Shenandoah outscored the Generals in points in the paint (30-22), fast break points (10-6) and bench points (30-3).
 
The Generals return to action on Saturday when they host Guilford in a 6:00 pm Senior Day game.