LEXINGTON, Va. – Senior
Hanna Malik dropped a career-high 33 points, while sophomore
Mary Schleusner logged her second consecutive 20-point, 20-rebound game, as the 12th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team fought off Guilford, 80-76, on Sunday for its ninth straight victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Malik helped the Generals (13-1, 8-0 ODAC) extend their lead coming out of the half to eight points with a layup, but the Quakers (9-4, 4-3 ODAC) remained in the game with a slight 13-11 stretch midway through the period. Guilford then surged ahead with an 11-1 run to take a six-point advantage, before Malik powered a 9-0 spurt with eight points of her own to put W&L back up, 60-57.
The Quakers answered with an 11-3 run into the fourth quarter to take a 68-63 lead at the 7:13 mark, tied for their largest lead of the game. Both sides then split 16 points evenly over the next 3:17, before the Blue and White held a 9-0 advantage over the final 3:33 to close out the win. Schleusner led the Generals in scoring down the stretch with seven points, including a perfect 3-for-3 on free throws.
Guilford assumed an early 11-7 lead to start the game after connecting on 5-of-8 shots from the field, with seven points coming from Courtney McMillan. The Generals outscored their opponent, 9-7, after that in the first quarter, as Guilford held a two-point edge heading to the second period.
Carleigh Perry sank a layup to get the second-quarter scoring started, but W&L responded with 10 consecutive points to flip things back in its favor by six points. McMillan nearly tied things up on a free throw four minutes later, but Malik, sophomore
Icy Keneah and first-year
Brianna Shuttlewood combined for seven straight W&L points to push the lead back to eight.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Malik's 33 points not only marked a new career high, it was also her first career 30-point game. The senior guard knocked down 10-of-18 shots all together, including 5-of-13 from deep and 8-of-10 from the foul line. Malik added three rebounds, two steals and one block on the day as well.
Schleusner's second straight and third career 20-20 came ended with 24 total points on 7-of-11 shooting from the field. Ten of Schleusner's 24 points came from the free throw line (10-14), while eight of her 22 rebounds were on the offensive end. Schleusner dished out two assists, blocked one shot and came away with two steals.
Sophomore
Sarah Zimmerman also had a solid performance, logging seven points (3-6 FG) and seven rebounds, second only to Schleusner, plus two blocks and two steals.
McMillan paced the GC offense with 16 points on 6-of-11 shooting overall to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and three steals. Anna Giannopoulou and Amara Harrell both scored 12 points on a combined 9-of-25 shooting from the field. Both players made two three-point shots and grabbed three rebounds.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Malik's career-high 33 points vastly accelerated her journey to join the program's 1,000-point club. She needs 38 more points to reach that threshold.
In total, Schleusner now has five games in her career with at least 20 rebounds. Sunday's latest performance of 22 was just one board away from tying her own program record, which she set on January 11 of last season against Roanoke. Schleusner can enter the program's Top 10 total rebounds list with 34 more.
The team's ninth consecutive win on Sunday is tied for the second longest winning streak in program history. The Generals won 10 straight games from January 2 to February 5 during the 2019-20 campaign.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game shooting 38.5 percent (25-65) overall from the field, but a major difference in scoring came from the free throw line. The Quakers committed 31 fouls, which led to a 25-of-36 game for the Blue and White on foul shots. Guilford went to the line 20 times and made 13. It was the most makes and attempts at the line for the Generals since the team went 35-of-47 in an 86-76 win over Virginia Wesleyan on January 12, 2019.
The Blue and White gained a 52-32 advantage on the glass, leading to an 18-13 edge in second-chance points, and the Generals also held a 17-8 margin on fastbreaks. The Quakers outpaced W&L in points off turnovers (22-17) and bench points (41-17).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will hit the road for their next contest, a 7:00 p.m. start on Wednesday evening at Ferrum.
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.
