VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – First-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) led the way in Washington and Lee's 76-60 win at Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday with a season-high 28 points and 10 rebounds.
First-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis) began the scoring for W&L (5-2, 5-0 ODAC) with a three-pointer on the game's opening possession. Schleusner was a driving force in the opening frame, scoring 10 of the team's 21 points, as the Generals finished the first quarter ahead by a 21-14 score. W&L then gradually extended its lead throughout the second quarter, with the Marlins (4-4, 1-3 ODAC) unable to go on a scoring run longer than three points, leaving the Generals up 10 points at the half.
The W&L defense continued to stifle the VWU offense in the third quarter, as the Generals again did not allow multiple Marlin scores without an answer of their own. An 8-0 run in the middle of the period (four points from Schleusner) helped W&L outscore the Marlins, 22-14, in the third as the lead grew to 57-39 entering the fourth.
The final quarter was the only frame in which Virginia Wesleyan outscored W&L (21-19). Virginia Wesleyan's longest scoring run of the quarter was eight straight points, including five from Sariya Monroe. However, the Marlins were unable to bring their deficit below 11 points at any time during the final stanza, as the Generals walked away with their fifth ODAC win in five tries.
Schleusner's 28 points were accompanied by 10 rebounds for the first-year's second double-double of the season and third game with at least 10 boards. She shot 12-of-14 from the field and made all four of her foul shots, while adding two blocks and two steals on the defensive end.
Junior
Olivia Berntson (Memphis, Tenn. / St. Agnes Academy) chimed in with 12 points on an efficient 6-of-9 shooting from the floor, and she also pulled down three rebounds. Junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) scored nine points and first-year
Sarah Zimmerman (Cincinnati, Ohio / Cincinnati Country Day) tallied seven points, while making all three of her field-goal attempts. Defensively, Zimmerman, along with senior
Ana Dorta (Katonah, N.Y. / John Jay), junior
Grace O'Connor (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) and first-year
Quinn McGuinness (Columbia, N.J. / North Warren Regional) joined Schleusner with multiple steals each.
The Marlins were led by a trio of double-digit scorers, with Jada Norman pacing the group with 16 points on 7-for-14 shooting, plus three steals. Meadow Dyke and Adaje Williams each scored 11 points on a combined 9-of-16 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six steals between the two.
W&L shot greater than 50 percent from the floor in two quarters to finished the game with a mark of 47.7 percent (31-65), including 64.3 percent (27-42) from inside the arc. The Generals also made 10-of-11 foul shots (.909), while Virginia Wesleyan connected on 43.4 percent (23-53) of its shot attempts. The Blue and White held sizable advantages in second-chance points (19-2), bench points (38-15) and points in the paint (44-22) in the contest.
The Generals will return to the court on Tuesday when they travel to nearby rival Southern Virginia for a 6:30 pm tip-off.
