DANVILLE, Va. – The Washington and Lee women's basketball team stepped into ODAC play for the first time this season on Wednesday, and walked away from Averett with an 86-67 victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Cougars (1-3, 0-1 ODAC) began the game with the upper hand, gaining a 7-3 lead across the first three minutes of play. W&L (2-0, 1-0 ODAC) settled in quickly after, though, with a 14-2 run that saw the Generals make 6-of-7 baskets to jump ahead, 17-9. Averett rebounded after that and prevented any further lengthy scoring runs the rest of the first half, as they trailed by no more than 12 and got it back to an eight-point game, 40-32, before the break.
Sophomore
Mary Schleusner was a driving force for the Blue and White in the opening two quarters, as she scored half the team's points during the 14-2 run, while posting 21 points on 9-of-14 field goals to begin the game. She also secured 10 boards in the first half and blocked two shots.
Averett tried to cut into the W&L lead in the third quarter, getting back to six points with six and a half minutes left, but back-to-back triples from senior
Hanna Malik quickly pushed the Generals back to a 12-point advantage.
Talia Prosper and Kiera Perkins then connected on jumpers to keep the Cougars in contention, but the Generals were too much for the home team. W&L they kept their lead at 10 points heading into the final quarter, held at least a nine-point cushion throughout the duration of the fourth and finished on a 10-2 run to eliminate any doubt to the outcome.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Schleusner finished the night with 33 points (15-23 FG), 16 rebounds, four blocks and three assists to highlight the W&L players. Malik came in next with 18 points and four assists, and she connected on five shots from long range. First-year
Brianna Shuttlewood scored five points and brought in seven rebounds, while first-year
Caroline Shimp tallied five points, nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. Seven of Shimp's nine boards came on the offensive glass.
Perkins scored an Averett-high 15 points and collected six rebounds, and Skylar Jones was the only other Cougar in double-figure scoring at 12 points. Jenkens Ervin tied Perkins for the team high in rebounds, while six different Averett players tallied at least seven points each.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Schleusner's 33-point, 16-rebound outing marked her 15th career double-double, and her second career game of at least 30 points and 15 rebounds (Feb. 26, 2023, vs. Shenandoah). Additionally, her four blocks on Wednesday boosted her career total to 97, which moved her past Kari Ann Pfannenstein '12 for fourth place in program history.
Sophomore
Elka Prechel inched her way closer to the program's career Top list for made three-point field goals with two more on Tuesday. Prechel now has 92 in her career, three away from tying Sarah Michaels '04 for 10th place.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game shooting 44.9 percent (31-69) from the floor, and the Generals made nine three-point shots and 15 foul shots, while limiting the Cougars to 33.3 percent (25-75) shooting overall and 23.5 percent (4-17) from three. The Blue and White outrebounded the Cougars, 53-41, and held notable margins in points in the paint (44-30) and fastbreak points (14-3).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will host the W&L Invitational this weekend, playing in two nonconference games. They begin with Salisbury on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
Nestled in the mountains of Virginia, Washington and Lee University is a proud member of NCAA Division III and the Old Dominion Athletic Conference. Founded in 1749, W&L is the ninth-oldest college in the United States and a top-ranked liberal arts university. With over 500 student-athletes in 24 varsity sports, the Generals have celebrated over 265 conference championships. Learn more about the Blue and White by visiting www.generalssports.com or on social media at @WLUGenerals.
