FERRUM, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team outscored Ferrum, 21-8, in the first quarter and never looked back in a 79-52 win over the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
The Generals (15-5, 12-1 ODAC) scored the first seven points of the contest and kept Ferrum (8-12, 4-9 ODAC) off the board for the first three and a half minutes. Sadavia Fedler logged the Panthers' first points, but then W&L first-year
Elka Prechel (Corvallis, Ore. / Corvallis) connected on a three to spur an 18-6 run into the second quarter, leaving the Generals up 25-8 with 9:09 left in the half.
The Panthers responded with a 13-3 run, led by nine points from Kayla Cabiness, but junior
Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C. / Athens Drive) stopped the Ferrum run with a layup at 3:14, as the Generals outscored Ferrum, 11-4, for the remainder of the half to take a 39-25 lead into the break. During that run, W&L made 4-of-5 shots from the field, including 3-of-4 from long range, with Malik tallying eight points and first-year
Sofia Feigelson (Millbrook, N.Y. / Millbrook School) the other three.
The 14-point lead that the Blue and White carried into the second half was the closest margin for the remainder of the game, as W&L began the third quarter on a 10-1 run, growing its lead to 23 points. The Generals' largest lead of the game came with 6:29 left to play after a three-pointer from sophomore
Lauren Achter (Wyckoff, N.J. / Ramapo) dropped, and again after a pair of free throws sunk by first-year
Quinn McGuinness (Columbia, N.J. / North Warren Regional) at 5:54.
Ferrum's longest sustained scoring run during the second half was six points, which made it a 70-48 ball game. Aisha Martin scored 12 points for Ferrum in the second half to lead all scorers.
Prechel finished with a game-high 18 points, scoring nine in both halves, and made 5-of-10 three-point shots in the game to boost her ODAC-leading total to 59. Malik came in next with 16 points and four assists, and she made three triples to push her career total to 149. With four more three's, Malik will pass Kari Ann Pfannenstein '12 for fourth most in program history.
Feigelson notched 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 2-of-3 from beyond the arc, plus two steals. Feigelson is now shooting 39.3 percent (22-56) from three-point land this year, which is the fourth-best mark in the ODAC and tied for fourth highest in a season in program history. First-year
Mary Schleusner (Charlotte, N.C. / Charlotte Latin School) added eight points and nine boards and junior
Grace O'Connor (Hillsborough, N.J. / Hillsborough) dished out a game-high eight assists.
Martin finished with 14 points in the game for the Panthers and Cabiness tallied 12 points and three steals. Kayleigh Shreffler scored eight points and pulled down three rebounds, while Trina Lewis grabbed a team-high and game-high tying nine rebounds.
W&L shot 45.1 percent (23-51) from the floor for their third consecutive game with a shooting percentage at least that high. The Generals also made 11-of-31 (.355) three-point shots and went 22-for-27 (.815) at the free throw line. The W&L defense limited Ferrum to just 31.6 percent (18-57) shooting on the day, and it marked the seventh game this season in which a W&L opponent has not exceeded 52 points. Additionally, the W&L's bench outscored Ferrum's, 28-14, including 18-2 in the fourth quarter.
The Generals will be on the road in their next game, a 7:00 pm start on Wednesday against Bridgewater. W&L has won each of the last six meetings against the Eagles, including the January 2 matchup by a score of 61-55.
