LEXINGTON, Va. – A hot start to the game helped the Washington and Lee women's basketball team to a 78-68 win over Marymount on Thursday evening in Holekamp Gym.
The Generals (8-3) opened the night on a 15-2 run over the first five minutes, powered by nine points from senior
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School). Heading to the second quarter with a 19-6 lead, W&L ballooned its lead to 36-13 with a 17-7 run to open the frame. This time, junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) was the driving force behind the run, as she scored 11 points during that span.
The Generals' first half margin grew to as large as 24 points after a pair of free throws from first-year
Sofia Feigelson (Millbrook, N.Y. / Millbrook School) with 1:14 left in the half, before the teams went into halftime at a 42-19 score.
The third quarter saw the closest scoring totals in the game, with W&L edging the Saints (10-2), 25-21, to extend its lead to 27 points (67-40) heading to the final quarter. The Generals' largest lead of the game was 28 points, when first-year
Sarah Zimmerman (Cincinnati, Ohio / Cincinnati Country Day) sank a layup with 2:22 in the third.
The Saints, however, rallied furiously in the fourth with a 21-3 run over the first nine minutes to cut the W&L lead down to 70-61 with 1:09 left to play. Over the final 69 seconds of the game, the Generals held Marymount off by draining 8-of-10 free throws to extend the lead to 10 and to not allow another single-digit score margin.
Malik led the way for the Generals' offense with 21 points on 6-of-11 field goals and 5-for-9 shooting from beyond the arc. With her five triples, Malik moved into sole possession of seventh place on the program's all-time three-pointers made list. She now needs seven more to tie former teammate
Megan Horn '22 (132) for sixth.
Feigelson contributed 16 points on 5-of-8 shooting, to go along with seven boards and two steals, while first-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis) added 14 points with four made three's. Vandiver finished the contest with 13 points and eight rebounds, tying Zimmerman and first-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) for the team high in boards.
The Saints were led by a 35-point effort from Terra Dzambo, who scored 16 of the team's 28 fourth-quarter points. Dzambo shot 11-of-21 overall, 6-of-12 from long range, and added nine rebounds. Claire Smith notched a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and Chandler Eddleton tallied 16 points, six boards, two assists and two steals.
The Generals converted on 43.4 percent (23-53) of their shots in the game, including 48.0 percent (12-25) from three-point land. Despite taking 25 more shots than W&L, Marymount made 32.1 percent (25-78) of its shots and 25.9 percent (7-27) from three. W&L also swatted 12 shots in the game, just one short of tying the program record of 13 set in the 2022-23 season opener. Vandiver led the defensive efforts for the Blue and White with three blocks.
W&L held a 26-0 advantage in the game in bench points and a 20-11 edge in made free throws, while the Saints outscored W&L in the paint (28-22).
The Generals will return to ODAC action in their next game, a 5:30 pm tip-off on Monday against Bridgewater.
