LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team limited Mary Washington to just 12 points in the third quarter, as the Generals defeated the Eagles, 73-68, on Tuesday evening.
The win marks the Generals' 12th straight at home, extending an active program record, and they improve to 3-2 overall with the win. Additionally, W&L's next win would tie head coach
Christine Clancy for the most wins in program history (123).
The first 22 minutes of play had been an evenly matched affair, with the score tied, 38-38, with eight minutes left in the third. Then, a three-point play from senior guard
Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) kick-started a 12-1 W&L run which put the Generals ahead, 50-39 at the 4:22 mark.
The Generals then looked to put the game away in the fourth quarter, as they outscored UMW, 9-4, over the first 5:38 of the final frame to build up a 66-50 lead. The Eagles fought until the final buzzer, however, as they ended the game on an 18-7 run, with the final five-point margin proving to be the closest they could cut the deficit.
Neither side sustained a scoring run longer than five consecutive points nor more than two straight scores over the course of the first half. The Generals led by a 21-18 score after the first, and 36-34 at halftime after the Eagles (5-1) won the second quarter, 16-15.
The W&L offense was led by senior guard
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School), who scored 17 points and added seven rebounds and three assists on the night. Junior forward
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) tallied a career-high 15 points and seven boards, and she made 9-of-11 foul shots, both also career highs. Diehl added 12 points and eight rebounds and first-year forward
Lauren Achter (Wyckoff, N.J. / Ramapo) posted 11 points.
W&L's defense clamped down on UMW's shooters in the game, as the Eagles went just 1-for-17 from beyond the arc, while the Generals outscored the Eagles, 24-13, at the free throw line. The 24 made foul shots were the most for W&L since making 35-of-47 in an 86-76 win over Virginia Wesleyan on January 12, 2019.
Sophomore guard Jordan Carpenter put up 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Eagles, and she made 6-of-7 shots from the field. First-year guard Megan Baxter contributed 11 points and three steals and junior guard Ashley Martin scored 10 points and pulled down five rebounds.
W&L finished the game shooting 34.9 percent (22-63) overall to UMW's 37.5 percent (27-72). The Generals attempted 29 free throws in the contest for a percentage of 82.8 made foul shots, their highest free throw percentage in a game since February 19, 2020 (.909).
The Generals will return to the court next Wednesday, December 1, when they travel to Shenandoah for a 7:00 pm tip-off.
