SALEM, Va. – Junior forward
Kathryn Vandiver led the Washington and Lee women's basketball team to a 72-58 win over Roanoke with a career night on Monday.
Entering the game, W&L held the top spot in the ODAC standings with a 12-1 conference record, while Roanoke sat second at 11-2 in conference. With the win, W&L moves to 16-4 overall and 13-1 in the ODAC, while the Maroons fall to 16-5 overall and 11-3 in conference.
The Generals took an early eight-point lead at 15-7 with just under two minutes left in the opening frame, as an 8-0 scoring run was powered by six points from Vandiver. Roanoke answered by scoring the next eight points to tie the game, but W&L countered with another 8-0 stretch to maintain its eight-point advantage midway through the second quarter.
The Generals expanded their lead to a nine-point halftime advantage, courtesy of seven points scored over the final five minutes of the half by first-year forward
Lauren Achter (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo).
Scoring slowed in the third quarter for both teams, as W&L outpaced the Maroons, 15-9, to go into the fourth with a 49-34 lead. The offense picked back up in the fourth, however, as Roanoke outscored the Generals, 20-11, over the first seven minutes to bring the game back to a six-point W&L lead.
Vandiver continued her strong game with five points over the final three minutes, while sophomore guard
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) added six free throws inside the final 38 seconds of the game to seal the win.
Vandiver paced the Generals with career highs in both points (23) and rebounds (12) in notching her second double-double of the season. She shot 10-of-13 from the floor and added three free throws. Achter contributed 12 points on 3-of-5 shooting overall, including 1-of-2 from beyond the arc and 5-of-7 from the foul line.
Senior guards
Jordan Diehl (Springboro, Ohio/Springboro) and
Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) combined for 21 points and 19 rebounds, with Diehl posting a 10-point, 12-rebound double-double.
Roanoke senior guard Renee Alquizza scored 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-3 from deep, and added five rebounds and two assists. Junior forward Rose Sande matched Diehl with 10 points and 12 boards, and first-year forward Peyton Kirchner tallied seven points.
The Generals shot 38.1 percent (24-63) in the game and held the Maroons to 34.4 percent (21-61) overall. Despite making only 3-of-19 three-point attempts and being outscored 24-9 from three-point land, W&L made up for it with a 21-for-30 effort at the free throw line, to just 8-of-12 from Roanoke. W&L also grabbed 10 more rebounds (48-38) and committed five fewer turnovers (18-13) than the Maroons.
W&L will return to action on Wednesday when it hosts Bridgewater at 7:00 pm.
