ELIZABETHTOWN, Pa. – First-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) logged 26 points and 12 rebounds, but it was not enough as the Washington and Lee women's basketball team fell by an 80-68 score to Elizabethtown in the Yonnie Kauffman Blue Jay Tournament championship game on Sunday.
With the score tied at 40-40 entering the third quarter, the Generals (7-3) got back-to-back buckets from Schleusner to open the frame, moving ahead by four points. However, the Blue Jays (9-0) did not allow consecutive scores for the remainder of the quarter, while outscoring W&L, 23-10, over the remaining nine minutes of the third. Elizabethtown's longest scoring run of the third was 5-0 (twice), including the final five points of the quarter and the first two of the fourth for a 7-0 run.
Schleusner then scored W&L's next six points to cut the deficit to 67-60 with 6:20 to play in regulation. The Blue Jays responded with another seven consecutive points to double their lead to 14 with four and a half minutes left, and did not allow the Generals closer than 12 points from then until the final buzzer.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth affair, as neither team logged more than two consecutive scores. Elizabethtown held the slight edge after the opening stanza (20-18), and grew its lead to six points in the first minute of the second, before an 11-0 run from the Generals turned the tables. The run was powered by senior
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) and first-year
Sofia Feigelson (Millbrook, N.Y. / Millbrook School), who both scored four points. The Blue Jays crept back to even the score before halftime, helped by a 6-0 spurt from 2:52 to 1:52.
Schleusner's 26-point, 12-rebound effort marked her third double-double of the season and her fourth consecutive double-digit rebound performance. Schleusner added five assists, three blocks and a pair of steals to her line as well, while shooting 12-of-26 from the floor. Junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) tallied 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting overall, including 3-for-4 from long range. With her trio of triples, Malik now needs just three more to tie Allie Long '11 for the seventh-most three-point makes in program history (120).
The Blue Jays were led by 25 points on 10-of-19 shooting from Summer McNulty. Jessica King tallied a 16-point, 11-rebound double-double and made 7-of-12 shots from the field, while Cyleigh Wilson matched King's 16 points (6-11 FG) with five boards and four dimes added. DaniRae Renno rounded out the quartet of Blue Jays to finish in double figures in points, with 12 on 6-of-12 shooting.
Elizabethtown connected on 47.8 percent (32-67) of its shots in the game, including 37.5 percent (6-16) from beyond the arc. The Generals logged their sixth game of the season shooting at least 40 percent, finishing at an even 40.0 on 28-of-70, but they attempted their fewest three-point shots of the season (12), and made four. W&L held an 18-11 advantage in bench points in the game, but the Blue Jays outscored W&L 16-12 off turnovers and 19-7 in second-chance points.
The Generals will return to action on December 29 when they host Marymount at 6:00 pm in their second-to-last non-conference game of the regular season.
