VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. – The 16th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team flexed its muscles in the second half against Virginia Wesleyan on Saturday, outscoring the home side, 39-14, on the way to a 78-44 road win.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game opened with seven straight points from the Generals (18-2, 12-1 ODAC), with five from sophomore
Quinn McGuinness. Virginia Wesleyan closed the early gap to one point with a 9-3 run, with an
Elka Prechel three sandwiched between four Marlin buckets, but W&L answered with 10 straight points to gain a 20-9 lead.
A balanced scoring effort from the Marlins helped them limit the damage over the next seven minutes of play, as their deficit gradually shrank to eight points at the 5:15 mark of the second. The Generals then scored the next eight points to inflate their lead to 39-23 with two and a half minutes in the quarter, but VWU scored the final seven points of the frame to put the score at a 39-30 W&L halftime advantage.
The Marlins began the second half on a 6-3 run, but that's where the Generals got hot. A run of twelve straight points was powered by McGuinness and sophomore
Mary Schleusner, who both combined for all 12 points. Overall, that W&L run stretched to 36-3 from the 7:47 mark of the third until 3:43 remained in the game. The Generals were sizzling hot from the field during that run, as they made 15-of-20 shots, while the Marlins (1-24 FG) went ice cold.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Three Generals scored in double figures to lead the offensive efforts, paced by 21 on 10-of-14 shooting from Schleusner, who added 15 rebounds, three assists and three blocks. Senior
Hanna Malik finished with 15 points and seven rebounds, while McGuinness tallied 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with six boards.
In total, 11 different W&L players scored multiple points.
Maesyn Blayock and Mekayla Clarke both scored 10 points to lead Virginia Wesleyan. Clarke added a team-best six rebounds, while Gabrielle Athy and Juliana Anderson both grabbed five rebounds.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
With their win, the Generals improve to 18-2 overall, which marks the fifth straight full season the team has reached 18 or more victories. With a 12-1 record in conference play as well, it is the third consecutive season the Generals have 12 wins in their first 13 ODAC contests.
Malik's 15 points vaulted her past
Erin Hughes '21 (1,027) for 13th place on the program's all-time scoring list. Malik now has 1,036 points in 84 career games, and she can pass Jackie Clifford '17 for 12th place with four more points.
Schleusner's 15 rebounds and three blocks got her within striking distance of moving up a pair of career leaderboards. She needs five more rebounds to pass Felice Herman '11 (641) for ninth-most rebounds in program history, and another three blocks would get Schleusner past Emma Redding '18 (155) for the third-most swats in program history.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game shooting 49.2 percent (30-61) from the field, which was helped by a scalding 57.1 percent (16-28) in the second half. The Marlins came in at 27.1 percent (19-70) shooting for the game after being held to 16.2 percent (6-37) in the third and fourth quarters.
The Generals' 55-30 advantage in the rebounding category led to a 15-9 edge in second-chance points. The team also held positive margins in bench points (20-14), points in the paint (44-28) and fastbreak points (23-4).
UP NEXT:
W&L looks for the season sweep of Lynchburg in its next contest, as the Generals make the trip over the mountain on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. start.
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.
