Sideline Media

2024-25 W&L Women's Basketball Season Preview

Generals top ODAC preseason poll, seventh in D3hoops.com Top 25

11/5/2024 2:00:00 PM

LEXINGTON, Va. -- The Old Dominion Athletic Conference released its 2024-25 Women's Basketball Preseason Poll on Tuesday and Washington and Lee collected six first-place votes to top the poll with 138 points.

The Generals edged Shenandoah by a point in the season-opening poll, as the Hornets also earned six first-place votes. Right behind the Hornets was Randolph-Macon, who claimed the final first-place vote and 123 points. Guilford and Bridgewater finished fourth and fifth, respectively, to round out the Top-5 teams.

After having its most successful season in 2022-23, the Generals had an even better season in 2023-24 by winning their second consecutive ODAC title and setting program records for wins (29) and winning percentage (.906). The team plowed through ODAC play during the regular season, winning 17-of-18 contests and outscoring teams by 22.0 points per game, before winning all three ODAC Tournament games by an average of 17.0 points per game to gain the league's automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament. In March, W&L won its first two NCAA Tournament games in program history at home, before moving past undefeated Rhode Island College to make it to the first national quarterfinal game in program history.

2024-25 ODAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

Washington and Lee University (6) 138 pts.
Shenandoah University (6) 137 pts.
Randolph-Macon College (1) 123 pts.
Guilford College 108 pts.
Bridgewater College 103 pts.
University of Lynchburg 80 pts.
Randolph College 74 pts.
Roanoke College 70 pts.
Ferrum College 58 pts.
Hollins University 44 pts.
Eastern Mennonite University 30 pts.
Virginia Wesleyan University 29 pts.
Averett University 20 pts.

National Poll/Preseason Awards

The Generals are ranked seventh in the preseason Top 25 in the D3hoops.com preseason poll, as well as eighth in the opening Women's Basketball Coaches Association poll. It is the first time that W&L has received a preseason ranking in program history. New York University, who won the 2024 national championship, is the No. 1 team in the country by D3hoops.com, followed by Wartburg, Scranton, UW-Whitewater and Bowdoin. The WBCA has NYU as its unanimous No. 1 team, followed by Wartburg, Scranton, UW-Whitewater and Christopher Newport.

For a look at the full Top 25 rankings from both associations, click on the following links: D3hoops.com | WBCA

Junior Mary Schleusner also received preseason recognition, earning a spot on the D3hoops.com Preseason All-America First Team on October. Schleusner received numerous accolades throughout her 2023-24 season, including WBCA and D3hoops.com First Team All-America, ODAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year and D3hoops.com Region 6 Player of the Year. To read the full release, click here.

Hear from Coach

I am extremely excited about this team and the opportunities ahead of us. This team works very hard, has fun, and cares deeply for one another. Every day I am excited to go to practice and see how much we can grow. The schedule will be difficult from start to finish, but this team is committed to the grind and we have great leaders that will help guide us to our ultimate goals. I could not be prouder at this point in the young season.

Head Coach Brittney Kemp (First Season)

2024-25 Schedule Overview

The Generals will play a road-heavy 2024-25 schedule, with 10 games in Holekamp Gym and 15 away from Lexington. This includes two in-season invitationals at road/neutral institutions and a trip to the west coast.

W&L opens the season with a home contest against nearby rival Southern Virginia on Monday, November 11, before heading to Atlanta, Ga., for the Emory Tip-Off, where they will play the host Eagles on November 16, followed by Oglethorpe the following day. The Generals will then face two early-season ODAC tests over the next three games at Lynchburg (11/23) and Bridgewater (12/4), sandwiched around their only other home game in 2024, coming on December 1 against Marymount.

The Generals will then fly out to Oregon for their next two games at Pacific (12/15) and Willamette (12/17), before making their way to Lexington, Ky., for the Transylvania Tournament. They will meet Concordia (Minn.) in the tournament’s first day before matching up with either the Pioneers or Case Western Reserve on Day 2.

The 2025 portion of the schedule will be played almost entirely in ODAC play, with the lone exception coming in the first game of the new year on January 2 against Mary Washington.

For the remainder of the season, the Blue and White will play eight games on their home floor and six in enemy territory. The home games include Virginia Wesleyan (1/5), Ferrum (1/11), Shenandoah (1/15), Guilford (1/25), Eastern Mennonite (1/29), Randolph-Macon (2/1) and Roanoke (2/22). The final road games will be played at Hollins (1/8), Roanoke (1/18), Averett (1/22), Randolph (2/5), Shenandoah (2/15) and EMU (2/19).

The ODAC Tournament will see a new format in the upcoming season, as the tournament field will be trimmed from 10 teams to eight, while each of the Top 4 seeds will host quarterfinal action on February 25. Each advancing team from the quarterfinals will then meet at the Salem Civic Center in Salem, Va., in the semifinals on February 28, with the championship game to follow on March 1.

W&L’s matchups against Pacific, Willamette and Concordia (Minn.) will all be first-time meetings for the programs. This season will also be the second straight that W&L sees Emory, Oglethorpe, Marymount and Mary Washington as part of its non-conference schedule. The Generals went 3-1 against those four foes last season.

In ODAC play, the Generals will look for continued dominance over their conference counterparts. After two straight 16-2 seasons, the Generals dropped only one ODAC last year en route to a 17-1 record and the top seed for the conference tournament. W&L holds an impressive 49-5 record in the ODAC over the last three seasons, and 64-8 mark across the last four full seasons.

Key Returners

While the Generals return just 1-of-2 All-ODAC players from last year’s team, they return over 80 percent of their scoring from last season, 85 percent of their total minutes played and over 90 percent of their rebounding.

Individually, junior Mary Schleusner leads the charge as the team’s returning All-ODAC representative. Schleusner averaged 23.9 points per game last season and led Division III in rebounds per game (17.2) and double-doubles (27), on her way to earning First Team All-America honors from D3hoops.com and the WBCA. She was also named the D3hoops.com Region 6 Player of the Year, ODAC Player of the Year and ODAC Defensive Player of the Year accolades.

Two more starters with at least 25 starts each from last season are also back in juniors Quinn McGuinness and Elka Prechel. McGuinness scored 7.9 points per game last season and led W&L in assists (84) and assists per game (2.6), while shooting 36 percent (31-86) from long range. Prechel, the Generals' top returning outside threat, contributed 7.2 points per game in 2023-24 and connected on 73-of-215 (.340) three-point shots.

Sophomore Brianna Shuttlewood and junior Sarah Zimmerman are two more players who averaged just north of 20 minutes per game last season. Shuttlewood connected on 25 three-point shots in her rookie season and ranked fourth on the team in total assists with 64. Zimmerman, a threat on both ends of the floor, averaged 5.0 points per game on 46.7 percent shooting, grabbed 4.9 rebounds per game, dished out 63 total assists, and ranked Top 3 on the team in both steals (20) and blocks (32).

Lauren Achter enters her senior season having played in 85 games over the last three seasons.

On the court, Achter has totaled 319 points and 298 rebounds, which included career highs in total rebounds (137) and rebounding average (4.4) last season. Achter also shot a career-best 41.1 percent from the floor as a junior and has averaged 11.8 minutes per game for her career.

Off the court, Achter has been named a W&L Scholar Athlete six times and ODAC All-Academic all three years. A business administration and environmental studies double-major, Achter serves as the Women's Basketball Representative to GAMA, is a W&L Earth Action Leader and volunteered at Bread for the City in Washington, DC, during summer 2024.

Cat Pettegrove, one of just two seniors on this year’s team, has appeared in 65 games during her career, including a career-high 30 last season.

Pettegrove has totaled 178 points on 56.6 percent shooting from the floor for her career, to go along with 191 rebounds 30 blocks and 21 steals. Despite averaging only 7.5 minutes per game for her career, Pettegrove has always been an efficient player, averaging 14.6 points and 15.7 rebounds per 40 minutes for her career.

An economics major, Pettegrove worked as an Operations Intern for Stryker Sales over the summer, serves as the Director of Recruitment for Alpha Delta Pi and is among leadership with Club 24 at W&L. Pettegrove has also appeared twice on the ODAC All-Academic Team and is a W&L Scholar Athlete.

Junior Mary Schleusner rounds out the 2024-25 team captains with 61 appearances across her first two highly-decorated seasons.

Schleusner followed up a banner rookie campaign with an even more impressive sophomore season. In addition to her awards, Schleusner set numerous program single-season records, including points (765), rebounds (551) and blocks (105), as well as single-game high marks for points (45) and rebounds (33). Through 61 career games, Schleusner is averaging 19.3 points, 14.7 rebounds and 3.2 blocks per game.

Away from the gym, Schleusner is an ODAC All-Academic Team student as a business administration and strategic communication double-major. She also spent two months over the summer studying abroad in Barcelona.

Upcoming Milestones and Records

Junior Mary Schleusner is within striking distance of several W&L women's basketball career records, and will be on “record-breaker” watch throughout the season. She enters the season needing 105 rebounds to become the second player in program history with 1,000 boards, and an additional 47 rebounds would put her atop the career rebounds list ahead of Jessica Hunsinger ‘07 (1,046). Schleusner can also break the career blocks record with 73 more, a mark she has passed with ease in each of her first two seasons, and she can set the record for most field goals made in program history with 149 more made shots.

Finally, Schleusner has a shot at becoming the program’s all-time leading scorer this season, as well. She has scored 1,178 points across her first two seasons, and would pass Jessica Mentz ‘02 with 565 more points. Schleusner is also already the program’s all-time leader in career scoring (19.3) and rebounding (14.7) averages.

Junior Elka Prechel is off to one of the best starts in program history among scoring threats from the outside. A career 35.0-percent shooter from three-point range (fifth in program history), Prechel has made the most threes through the first two seasons of a career in program history (152). Prechel would pass Emily Perszyk ‘18 (195) for fourth with 44 more made triples and needs 80 more made three-point shots to pass Taylor Casey ’20 for third.

New Faces on Staff

Brittney Kemp was named the sixth Head Women's Basketball Coach in program history on June 26, and she added Katie Garrish as her assistant coach, effective August 26.

Kemp joined the Generals following a three-year stint as the head women's basketball coach at St. Mary's College (Md.). While leading the Seahawks, Kemp went 44-33 overall and 29-15 in the United East Conference. She was the 2022-23 UEC Coach of the Year and helped her players earn seven all-conference selections and three major conference awards.

Garrish is in her first coaching post following an exceptional playing career at nearby Southern Virginia University. Garrish finished as the program's second all-time leading scorer while leading the Knights to the first USA South Conference title in program history as a team captain. Garrish averaged 16.0 points per game in 102 games in her career, while shooting 52.8 percent from the floor, and she led Division III in blocks per game (3.5) and double-doubles (23) as a sophomore.

For more information on the new coaching staff, click on the following links: Brittney Kemp | Katie Garrish