ATLANTA – The 17th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team handed Centre its first loss of the season on Saturday, 76-62, on the first day of the TownPlace Suites Classic at Oglethorpe.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Colonels (7-1) jumped out to a quick 6-2 lead, but that was followed by a
Caroline Shimp jumper for the Generals (9-1), which sparked a 10-2 run. Five consecutive points from Centre were then followed by another eight straight points from the Blue and White to close the quarter, with five coming from sophomore
Mary Schleusner and three from sophomore
Quinn McGuinness.
Both sides battled evenly in the second, with W&L edging the Colonels, 17-16, to take a 38-29 lead into halftime. Senior
Hanna Malik connected on back-to-back threes for a team-high six points in the quarter, while Lilly Reid scored 10 for Centre to keep the deficit to single digits.
The third quarter went similarly to the first, as Centre had the upper hand early before the Generals turned on the jets with a 14-4 run to balloon their lead to 55-39 at the 3:04 mark. The Colonels ended the run with four straight makes at the foul line, before W&L scored the final six points, including a triple from first-year
Brianna Shuttlewood, to take an 18-point lead into the fourth quarter.
Centre had its best quarter in the fourth, but it was too little, too late for the Colonels. They produced 19 points in the final 10 minutes, their most productive quarter of the game, but the Generals got scores when they needed them to secure the 14-point win.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Schleusner led the Generals with 22 points, plus 12 rebounds and three blocks, and she made 8-of-16 shots from the field. Malik connected on 3-of-6 three-point shots and totaled 10 points, while McGuinness added nine,
Sarah Zimmerman tallied eight and
Lauren Achter notched seven. Overall, the Generals received balanced scoring as 11 different players scored a point.
Reid led all players with 23 points, which came on 9-of-22 shooting from the floor. Bailey Rucker chimed in with 14 points, four rebounds and two blocks, and Emma Rose Vincent scored eight points and pulled down four boards.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With her trio of triples, Malik became just the third player in program history to surpass the 200 barrier from long range. Malik has made 201 shots from deep in her career, and she needs 30 more to tie Taylor Casey '20 for second most in program history.
Sophomore
Elka Prechel added a three-point make as well, and she needs one more to become the 10th player in program history to cross the century mark.
The team's 9-1 mark through 10 games this season improves on their best start to a season in program history, and they will take a five-game winning streak into Sunday's contest.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game shooting 44.8 percent (26-58), including 36.4 percent (8-22) from three-point range, while limiting the Colonels to 30.7 percent (23-75) overall and 16.7 percent (3-18) from deep. The Blue and White held the advantage for the game in fastbreak points (8-4) and second-chance points (13-10), but the Colonels committed just five turnovers and forced 14.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will look for win No. 10 of the season on Sunday at 4:00 p.m. when they take on Oglethorpe on the final day of the TownPlace Suites Classic.
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.
