LEXINGTON, Va. – Senior guard Erin Hughes (Raleigh, N.C./Ravenscroft School) scored a career-high 29 points to guide the Washington and Lee women's basketball team to a 76-62 comeback win over Emory & Henry on Saturday afternoon.
 
A slow start on offense out of the gates saw the Generals (3-1, 3-1 ODAC) trail by a 19-8 count through the first six and a half minutes of the game. Hughes helped spark the W&L comeback when she connected on two jumpers for five points to get it back to a six-point game. The deficit remained at six entering the second quarter, before first-year guard Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) hit a three-point shot to open the scoring in the second frame.
 
After five straight points from the Wasps (4-6, 4-4 ODAC), Malik hit another triple, followed by a 6-0 run from Hughes to put the Generals ahead, 30-29, at the 5:43 mark. The sides continued to exchange scores until halftime, as Hughes hit another jumper with 12 seconds left to tie the score, 39-39, heading to the break.
 
In the third, neither side pulled more than three points ahead of the other, but Hughes scored 10 points in the quarter to keep the Generals in the game. Leading by a score of 59-58 going into the final frame at the start of the fourth, the Generals used a 17-4 scoring margin in the frame to pull away for good, including a 13-0 run to close the contest.
 
Hughes finished the game 12-of-21 from the floor and filled the stat sheet with seven rebounds, four steals and two blocks. Her two blocks gives her 65 in her career, moving her past Jackie Clifford '17 for 10th place on the program's all-time list. Hughes also sits in ninth place on the program's all-time steals list (170), making her the only player currently in the Top 10 of both categories.
 
Malik shot 3-for-4 on three-pointers, just one game after going 5-of-6 from distance, and finished with 11 points. Junior guard Kate Groninger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) tallied 11 points and four boards, while junior guard Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) pulled in 13 rebounds.
 
For the Wasps, sophomore guard Brylee Jones scored a team-high 13 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the floor. Senior forward Elizabeth Jones finished with nine points and five rebounds, and senior guard Josie Salyer totaled eight points and five boards.
 
The Generals went 28-of-62 (.452) from the floor in the game, including 7-of-16 (.438) from three, and they made 13 of their 17 free throw attempts (.765), while holding the Wasps to 22-of-60 (.367) shooting overall and 7-of-20 (.350) from long range. W&L also held advantages over E&H in points off turnovers (28-18), points in the paint (38-24), second-chance points (12-11) and fastbreak points (8-5).
 
W&L will be back in action on Thursday with a 7:00 pm home tip-off against Shenandoah.