LEXINGTON, Va. – Sophomore
Mary Schleusner poured in 38 points on Saturday, but the Washington and Lee women's basketball team was unable to overcome a late, raging run from Emory, as the 23rd-ranked Generals dropped their first game of the season to the Eagles by a final score of 86-78.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (4-1) held a three-point lead heading to the fourth quarter and limited the Eagles (5-1) to just six points across the first four and a half minutes of the final frame. With the game now favoring the Blue and White, 64-62 at the 5:04 mark, the Eagles sandwiched a 7-0 and 5-0 run around a 6-0 spurt from W&L to move ahead, 74-70.
Two free throws from sophomore
Mary Schleusner cut the game back to two points, but the Eagles scored 12 points over the final 1:14, connecting on 9-of-10 foul shots and a three pointer from Claire Brock, to fend the Generals off down the stretch.
W&L held an early 9-5 lead through the first four minutes, but a 12-3 Emory run flipped the margin to favor the Eagles by four points with three minutes left in the first quarter. Emory grew its lead gradually to six points at the 7:07 mark of the second, before a 10-0 Generals run gave W&L its lead back. Senior
Hanna Malik and junior
Cat Pettegrove both scored four points during the run.
The Eagles ended the first half on an 11-4 run to regain a three-point halftime advantage, but the Generals countered with an 11-4 run of their own to end the third quarter, including six from Schleusner, to go into the fourth quarter up, 59-56.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Schleusner logged her second 30-point double-double of the season, finishing the game with 38 points and 13 rebounds, while adding two blocks and four steals. Schleusner shot 15-of-30 from the floor and connected on 8-of-11 from the free throw line as well. Malik notched 18 points, five rebounds and three steals, while sophomore
Quinn McGuinness contributed eight points. Pettegrove matched Schleusner's two blocked shots, and she made all three of her field goal attempts to finish with six points.
The Eagles were led by an impressive shooting performance from Brock, who connected on 13-of-21 shots overall, including 7-of-10 from deep, to tally a game-high 39 points. Katherine Martini scored 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, and Daniella Aronsky chipped in eight points and six assists. Erin Martin led the Emory players in rebounding with 12.
NOTEWORTHY STATS:
Schleusner's 38 points on Saturday were just one point away from tying the program's single-game record of 39, set by Becca Bolton '12 on February 18, 2011. Schleusner's 15-of-30 performance from the field tied the program record for made shots in a game and broke the team record for attempts, previously held by Megan Babst '02 (28).
Schleusner entered the day ranking sixth in Division III in scoring average (27.0) and rebounding average (14.5). Her points per game average jumped to 29.2 after Saturday's 38 points, which would rank second in the country.
The matchup between the Generals and Eagles was just the second all-time meeting between the schools in women's basketball. The previous meeting was just the second game in W&L program history (November 23, 1993).
TEAM STATS:
W&L shot 38.3 percent (31-81) from the floor to 43.9 percent (29-66) from the Eagles, which was helped by marks of 56.3 (9-16) and 58.3 (7-12) percent in the second and fourth quarters, respectively. The Blue and White held edges in points off turnovers (24-19), second-chance points (13-10) and points in the paint (54-32), while Emory outscored the Generals in bench points (21-8) and fastbreak points (18-8).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will play again on Sunday and get back to ODAC play with a 2:00 p.m. tip-off at Hollins.
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.
