LEXINGTON, Va. – First-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) established a new Washington and Lee women's basketball record with 23 rebounds to lead the squad past Roanoke, 86-69, on Wednesday evening.
Schleusner's boards were spread evenly throughout the game, with 12 in the first half and 11 in the second. Her 23 rebounds marked the third 20-rebound game in program history, and she became just the second player for the program to record 20 or more rebounds in a game. Megan Babst '02, the only other player to record at least 20 rebounds in a game, last reached the mark (20) on January 5, 2001, and she set the record at 21 on December 2, 1999.
The Generals (11-4, 8-0 ODAC) steadily built up a 12-point lead through the first quarter, with separate scoring runs of 7-0 and 6-0, while shooting an even 50 percent (11-22) in the opening frame. After a pair of Roanoke (11-3, 5-2 ODAC) jumpers fell to open the second, W&L went on a 15-2 run to grow its lead to 43-22 with 2:28 left in the half. The three ball was key for the Generals during the run, as four different players combined for five triples, including two from first-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis).
W&L's lead was extended to 18 points out of the halftime break by a Schleusner jumper, but Roanoke then used a 17-9 run to cut its deficit to 10 points. The Maroons' trailed by a little as seven points during the fourth quarter, following a turnaround jumper from Rose Sande with 7:36 to play, but Schleusner pushed the Generals' lead back to 11 with four straight points. The Blue and White went on to hold Roanoke off the board over the final 4:14 of the game.
Schleusner led all scorers in the contest with 25 points, and she also blocked three shots. Of her 23 rebounds, 15 came on the defensive glass and eight came on the offensive end. Junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) finished with 15, including 11 in the first half, which came on 5-of-9 shooting overall and 4-for-7 from long range. This marked Malik's third consecutive game with at least four makes from beyond the arc and her fourth in the last five games.
First-year
Sofia Feigelson (Millbrook, N.Y. / Millbrook School) added 10 points to round out W&L's double-digit scorers, to go along with eight rebounds and five assists.
Roanoke was led on offense by a 16-point game from Nora Schroeder, who also grabbed six rebounds. Sande finished the game with 15 points, seven rebounds and four steals, and Jacquelyn DeJesse chimed in with 13 points and three assists.
W&L won the rebounding battle by a decided 61-41 margin. It was the team's fourth game this season with at least that many rebounds in a game, with only four such occurrences in the program's history entering this season. The Blue and White finished the game with a field goal percentage of 45.9 (34-74) to Roanoke's 33.8 (27-80), and W&L also held a 21-11 edge in second-chance points.
The Generals will return to action on Saturday in another tough ODAC matchup, traveling to Randolph-Macon (10-4, 7-1 ODAC) for a 2:00 pm tip-off.
