LEXINGTON, Va. – Head Coach
Christine Clancy earned her program-record 124th win on Saturday, as the the Washington and Lee women's basketball team defeated Guilford, 72-61, in a home ODAC contest.
In addition to now owning the program's wins record, Clancy also has the highest winning percentage of any coach in program history (.551). The Generals improve to 5-2 overall with the win and 3-0 in conference, while the Quakers fall to 1-5 overall and 0-3 in the ODAC with the loss.
Down by two points midway through the second quarter, senior guard
Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) made a layup to kickstart a 15-5 run that spanned into the third quarter to take a 38-30 lead. Guilford first-year guard Zy Benjamin then connected on a pull-up jumper, but the Generals capped off an overall 34-15 run into the fourth quarter with a 19-8 stretch.
Sophomore guard
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) led the charge for W&L on the backend of the run, scoring eight points.
The Quakers tried to get back into the game, and cut their deficit to 67-59 with 1:45 left in the contest, courtesy of a 19-10 run. However, senior guard
Kate Groninger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) nailed her third three-point shot of the game with 1:15 to play to cap off a 20-point performance and seal the win for W&L.
Groninger's 20 points came on 7-of-13 shooting overall and 3-of-7 from long range, and she added six rebounds, two assists and two blocks. Malik finished with 18 points on 7-for-13 from the field and 4-for-8 from three-point land.
Senior guard
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) tallied 13 points, seven rebounds and eight assists. With a made three-point shot in the second quarter, Horn became just the seventh player in program history to make at least 100 three-pointers in a career.
Guilford senior guard Lindsay Gauldin paced the offense with a game-high 30 points, six rebounds and four steals. Gauldin did most of her damage from the foul line, as she connected on 12-of-13 free throws, in addition to making 9-of-19 shots from the field. Benjamin contributed nine points and nine boards.
W&L shot 42.2 percent (27-64) overall to Guilford's 39.3 percent (22-56). The Generals also held an advantage of 9-2 in made three-point shots, going 9-of-30 (.300) to 2-of-8 (.250) for the Quakers. Guilford led the game in bench points (12-10), while W&L outscored the Quakers, 21-11, off turnovers and 13-9 on fastbreaks.
The Generals will return to action on December 19 when they take on Loras at 7:00 pm in the St. Pete Classic at Eckerd College.