ASHLAND, Va. – Despite scoring just 16 second-half points, the Washington and Lee women's basketball team forced a pair of missed game-tying shots in the final seconds to fight off Randolph-Macon for a 52-49 road win on Wednesday night.
The win marks W&L's seventh win in a row, their longest streak since a program-record 10 during the 2019-20 season, as the team improved to 12-3 overall and 9-0 in the ODAC. The Yellow Jackets suffered their first conference loss of the season (8-1) and fell to 10-4 overall.
Trailing by 10 points to begin the final quarter, Randolph-Macon clamped down on defense, allowing just four W&L points until the 2:03 mark, while scoring 12 points of its own to pull back within two points. Senior guard
Kate Groninger (Pittsburgh, Pa./Upper St. Clair) connected on a three with 2:03 remaining and the Yellow Jackets managed two free throws with 56 seconds to play.
On the final sequence, the Generals forced a pair of missed game-tying three-point attempts, with one at nine seconds remaining and another at the final buzzer to hang for the three-point win.
Trailing by 12 points entering the third quarter, the Yellow Jackets scored just 10 points over the first nine minutes of the period, but held the Generals to three points, cutting their deficit to five. W&L scored six of the seven remaining points in the frame, before opening the fourth with a bucket from junior forward
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) to complete an 8-1 run.
In the first quarter, W&L used a 20-8 run, spanning into the second quarter, to gain a 22-14 lead. Following a triple from senior guard Becca Anthony, W&L went another run of 13-5 to take a 35-22 lead before going into the halftime break up by 12 points.
W&L was led on offense by sophomore guard
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive), who scored 16 points, including 12 in the first half. Groninger and junior guard
Ana Dorta (Katonah, N.Y./John Jay) each finished with eight points, with Dorta shooting 3-for-4 overall in the game. Senior guard
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) scored three points, grabbed eight rebounds and tallied three assists, while senior guard
Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) pulled in 12 boards.
R-MC senior forward Aimee Debell scored a team-high 12 points and finished with seven rebounds, and first-year guard Juliana Park notched 11 points and five rebounds. Sophomore guard Catherine Kagey contributed 10 points, eight boards and three steals.
W&L finished the game shooting 32.2 percent (19-59) from the floor and held the Yellow Jackets to 27.5 percent (19-69), including 19.0 percent (4-21) from long range. W&L outscored R-MC, 26-22, in the paint, 8-4 on the fastbreak and 17-2 in bench points, while the Yellow Jackets held an 8-2 edge in second-chance points.
The Generals will be back in action on Saturday when they host Virginia Wesleyan at 4:30 pm. Prior to tip-off, the team will honor its four-player senior class.
