ROANOKE, Va. – First-half shooting woes befell the Washington and Lee women's basketball team on Friday night in a 61-52 loss at Roanoke.
 
The Generals even their record at 1-1 overall and in the ODAC, while the Maroons improve to 5-1 overall, with a 3-1 mark in league play.
 
After an evenly matched first quarter saw Roanoke take a 12-11 lead into the second, both teams continued to exchange scores until the 5:58-mark (18-18). From there, four straight points by the Maroons were countered by four straight points by the Generals. However, Roanoke closed the frame scoring the final seven points to take a 29-22 advantage into halftime.
 
Both defenses overmatched the opposing offenses, as both teams were held under 30-percent shooting from the floor in the first half. The Generals connected on 4-of-11 triples in the first half, while limiting the Maroons to just 1-of-6.
 
The Generals were unable to pull closer through the first five minutes of the third quarter and, with Roanoke ahead by a 35-27 count, surrendered an 11-4 run to give the Maroons their biggest lead of the night at 46-31. 
 
Down 14 points in the beginning of the final quarter, the Generals countered with an 14-4 run to cut their deficit to 54-50 with 3:11 left in the game. Senior guard Erin Hughes (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) and first-year guard Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) led the run, as Hughes sank a pair of layups, while Malik splashed home a pair of three-pointers.
 
Four points was as close as the Generals came, however, as Roanoke pulled away for good to seal the win.
 
Junior guards Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) led the W&L offense with 12 points each. Diehl grabbed 10 rebounds and Horn tallied eight boards and four assists. Hughes finished with 10 points and seven rebounds on the night, while Malik scored seven and logged a steal.
 
For the Maroons, junior guard Renee Alquiza scored a game-high 23 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the floor, 2-for-3 from long range and 7-of-8 on foul shots, while adding nine rebounds. Sophomore forward Rose Sande contributed 11 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench for Roanoke.
 
The Maroons finished the game with a .328 field goal percentage (21-64), edging the Generals' mark of .292 (19-65). Roanoke also made 17-of-28 shots from the free throw line, compared to 7-of-11 from W&L, in addition to edging the Generals in points off turnovers (18-6), second-chance points (13-8) and points in the paint (34-24).
 
The Generals will return to action when they play in their home opener on Sunday, February 14, as they take on Ferrum at 1:30pm.