FERRUM, Va. – The 11th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team cruised to their 10th straight win, tying the program record, in a balanced yet dominant 72-37 victory at Ferrum on Wednesday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Panthers (6-9, 3-5 ODAC) pulled out to an initial 8-5 lead before the Generals (14-1, 9-0 ODAC) scored eight straight points to begin an overall 22-2 run into the second quarter. During the run, sophomore
Elka Prechel nailed a trio of triples to lead the Generals with nine points, and the team made 7-of-10 shots from the field and 5-of-6 from deep.
W&L cooled after that to close the first half, but the Panthers did little to cut into their deficit, as the Generals led by a 33-21 score. Prechel led all scorers with 12 points in the first half, which came on a perfect 4-for-4 shooting from three.
The Generals kept the pedal to the metal in the second half, outscoring the Panthers, 39-16, across the final 20 minutes of play, including 19-5 in the third quarter. The Blue and White made 8-of-14 shots in the third, while limiting Ferrum to just 1-of-15, and got five points each from sophomores
Mary Schleusner and
Sarah Zimmerman.
Ferrum's longest scoring run in the second half was just six-points long across a two-minute span in the fourth quarter, and the Generals added an additional run of 10 straight points in the final period. Senior
Emma Robertson scored four points during that run, plus three points each from first-year
Caroline Shimp and sophomore
Katie Lawson.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Prechel ended the night at 12 points to lead the W&L offense, which featured 12 different players scoring. Junior
Cat Pettegrove scored eight points and pulled in six rebounds in 16 minutes, while Schleusner matched Pettegrove's eight points, but led all players with 10 rebounds.
All 14 Generals saw time on the court on Wednesday night, with 12 players logging 10 minutes or more.
Kayla Cabiness led all Ferrum players with nine points, but the W&L defense limited her to just 3-of-15 shooting. Trina Lewis paced the Panthers with seven rebounds and five points.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals' 10th consecutive win on Wednesday ties the program record which was set during the 2019-20 campaign. That streak lasted from January 2 to February 5. This year's Generals have not lost since falling to Emory, 86-78, on November 25. Like the Generals, Emory has been climbing the national ranks all season, and currently sits at No. 9 in the latest WBCA poll, while also being W&L's only loss this season.
The Generals are now 9-0 in ODAC play this season, which makes it the third consecutive season that W&L has begun conference play with nine straight wins or more. The 2021-22 team holds the record for longest winning streak to start the conference slate (11-0), and the program is now 41-4 over the last three seasons in ODAC games.
Ferrum's 37 points scored marked the third game this season that W&L has limited its opponent to 40 points or fewer. Entering the day, W&L ranked 17th in Division III in field goal percentage defense (.318) and 16th in three-point percentage defense (.224), while allowing just 57.5 points per game.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals had another high mark in the game, as they made 10-of-16 shots from deep for the third-highest three-point percentage in a game in program history (.625). It is the highest since achieving the current record of 0.688 against Virginia Wesleyan on March 6, 2021.
W&L's hot three-point shooting elevated its overall shooting percentage to 0.491 (26-53), while holding Ferrum to 18.2 percent (10-55) overall and a mere 8.3 percent (1-12) on threes. Other team statistical advantages for W&L included points off turnovers (17-9), second-chance points (17-8), bench points (40-12), points in the paint (30-16) and fastbreak points (13-1).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return home for their next game, which comes on Saturday at 2:00 p.m. against Mary Washington in what is W&L's final non-conference game of the regular season.
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.
