HARRISONBURG, Va. – After holding a nine-point lead at halftime, the 18th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team outscored Eastern Mennonite, 39-19, in the second half to cruise to a 78-49 win over the Royals on the road on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (8-1, 5-0 ODAC) led by a 39-30 margin entering the third quarter, and they began the new half on an 8-0 run on the front end of an overall 16-3 run. That stretch increased the lead to 22 points, but the Royals (4-6, 1-4 ODAC) limited W&L to just two points over the final four and a half minutes of the third, while scoring eight, as the game favored the Generals, 57-41, entering the fourth.
The 16-point difference entering the fourth was the closest across the final 10 minutes. W&L did not allow consecutive scores by the Royals in the fourth quarter, while outscoring the home team, 21-8. In the fourth, the Generals shot 5-of-9 from the field and held EMU to just 3-of-16.
Eastern Mennonite kept things close early on, trailing only 10-9 through the first four and a half minutes of the game. The Generals then scored eight straight points, before EMU went on a 9-2 run into the second quarter to cut its deficit to 20-18. Senior
Hanna Malik then nailed a jumper to spark a 13-3 run to give the Generals a 12-point cushion with 3:29 left before the half.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Malik led the way for the Generals' offense with 22 points on 7-of-12 shooting, which included 5-of-10 from three-point land. Sophomore
Quinn McGuinness got into double figures as well with 12 points, while sophomore
Elka Prechel and first-year
Caroline Shimp both scored eight. Sophomore
Mary Schleusner pulled in 14 rebounds and blocked three shots, and junior
Lauren Achter finished the game with 10 boards.
Jeriyah Osborne scored an EMU-high 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, while Trinity Washington and Kayla Surles both scored in double digits and combined for 23 points.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With her five made triples, Malik moved past Emily Perszyk '18 (195) for third place on the program's all-time three-point field goal list. Malik needs two more to become the third player in program history to cross the 200 barrier, with the next player on the list being Taylor Casey '20 at 231.
Prechel made a pair of three-point jumpers on Wednesday, and she needs two more to become the 10th player in program history to reach the triple-digit mark from deep. She needs seven more made threes to tie Kate Groninger '22 for ninth place.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals finished the game at 43.5 percent (27-62) shooting from the floor plus 88.9 percent (16-18) from the foul line, while limiting the Royals to 27.3 percent (18-66) overall and 16.7 percent (3-18) from long range. W&L also held advantages in points off turnovers (13-5), second-chance points (11-5), bench points (23-18), points in the paint (36-24) and fastbreak points (18-9).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will be back in action next Saturday, December 16, when they travel to Atlanta for the Oglethorpe Tournament. They will meet Centre on the first day at 4:00 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.
