SALEM, Va. – The top-seeded Washington and Lee women's basketball team defeated ninth-seeded Guilford, 65-54, in the ODAC Quarterfinals on Friday afternoon to break the program's single-season wins record.
The Generals improve to 20-5 overall with the win, the first 20-win season in program history, while the Quakers' season ends at 8-17 overall.
Leading by a score of 41-32 entering the third quarter, W&L extended its lead to 12 points by the 6:13 mark following a three from senior guard
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) and a pair of layups from junior forward
Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School). However, the Quakers took control of the remainder of the quarter, scoring the final 13 points to take a 49-48 lead into the final frame.
After both teams traded layups to keep Guilford out in front by a point, W&L scored 12 consecutive points to regain command of the game. The 12-0 run was part of an overall 15-3 run that spanned the final seven minutes of the contest to produce the final score. The fourth quarter scoring favored the Generals, 17-5.
The Generals jumped out to an early 18-8 lead in the first quarter on the strength of an 8-2 run to open the game and a 10-0 spurt later in the quarter. The Quakers settled in and reduced their deficit to 22-17 heading into the second quarter, as senior guard Lindsay Gauldin scored four points in the final 30 seconds.
Guilford gradually gained ground on W&L in the second quarter, outscoring the Generals 12-8 over the first five and a half minutes to get back within a point. The remainder of the first half saw the Generals push their lead back to nine points with an 11-3 run, which included three triples.
Horn led the way on offense for W&L as she scored a game-high 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting overall and 4-for-9 from long range. She also added eight rebounds, seven assists and two blocks to her line. Vandiver finished with 14 points on 6-of-10 shooting and eight rebounds, while sophomore guard
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) scored 13 points and went 3-of-7 on three-point shots. Malik needs just two more made triples to break the program's single-season record held by Meg Ingram '12.
Gauldin scored a Guilford-high 15 points to go along with four rebounds, five assists and three steals. First-year forward Carleigh Perry added 10 points and three blocks, while senior guard J'La Hinson contributed nine points and six boards.
W&L shot 41.8 percent (23-55) from the floor on the day to Guilford's 39.6 percent (21-53), and outscored the Quakers, 30-18, from beyond the arc and 9-6 at the foul line. W&L pulled down nine more rebounds than Guilford and outscored the Quakers, 24-20, in the paint.
The Generals will return to action in the ODAC Semifinals on Saturday at 6:00 pm. They will face the winner of the quarterfinal between fourth-seeded Shenandoah and fifth-seeded Randolph.
