HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team cruised to its second win of the season with an 83-44 victory over Eastern Mennonite on Wednesday evening.
Tied with a score of 5-5 early in the first quarter, the Generals (2-0, 2-0 ODAC) began to distance themselves from the Royals (2-2, 0-1 ODAC) early with a 9-0 run, which was part of an overall 18-3 scoring stretch. EMU was able to counter with eight straight points from the end of the first and into the second, but W&L pulled off another run immediately after, scoring 14 straight points to move ahead, 37-16.
W&L held EMU to just six points in the second quarter, while scoring 18, and held a 41-19 advantage at the half.
The Generals' second half was highlighted by a 13-0 run that spanned from late in the third quarter until 7:54 in the fourth. Overall, W&L outscored EMU by a 42-25 score in the second half, including 18-9 in the fourth quarter. All nine of EMU's fourth-quarter points were scored in succession, with the game ending with an 8-0 W&L run.
First-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) led the way for the Blue and White with a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double in just 21 minutes of play. Schleusner connected on 5-of-9 shots from the floor and also added two assists and a block. Junior
Olivia Berntson (Memphis, Tenn. / St. Agnes Academy) chimed in with 10 points on 4-for-4 from the field, while junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) and first-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis) both scored nine points.
In total, 12 different Generals got on the scoreboard, and the team also pulled down 64 rebounds after finishing the season-opener last week with 65. Prior to this season, W&L had reached 64 or more rebounds in a game just twice in its previous 29 seasons.
Mya Hamlet scored a Royals-high 10 points on 3-of-11 shooting overall, with four rebounds and a steal. Trinity Price, Trinity Washington and Caris Lucas each scored six points and pulled down two rebounds.
W&L limited the Royals to 23.4 percent (15-64) shooting from the floor, with just 20 percent (5-25) from long range. Offensively, the Generals connected on 45.5 percent (30-66) of their shots, including 10-of-21 (.476) three-point attempts. W&L also limited the Royals' work on the boards, holding a 64-26 margin in total rebounds and 17-6 on the offensive glass.
W&L outscored EMU in second-chance points (10-1), bench points (45-14), points in the paint (38-18) and fastbreak points (21-12), while the Royals held a slight 11-8 edge in points off turnovers.
The Generals will return to action on Saturday when they travel to Guilford for a 2:00 pm tip-off with the Quakers.
