SALEM, Ore. – The No. 13 Washington and Lee women's basketball team closed out its west-coast road trip with a 74-60 victory over Willamette on Tuesday evening, which included a dominant third quarter.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Leading by a score of 38-29 coming out of halftime, the Generals (7-1) began to run away with the game, as they outscored the Bearcats (3-5), 23-9, in the third, which was helped by a 19-1 run over the final six minutes of the quarter. Junior
Elka Prechel connected on two triples in the period for a team-high six points, followed by five from junior
Icy Keneah. In the third, W&L made 10-of-16 shots (.625) and limited Willamette to 3-of-12 (.250).
The Generals raced out to a 13-2 lead on 5-of-6 shooting to begin the game, before the Bearcats settled in and trailed by a 20-15 score through the opening quarter. Junior
Mary Schleusner led the way early with seven points, while sophomore
Riley Bryant and junior
Quinn McGuinness both scored five points during the opening run.
W&L extended its lead to 38-29 through the second quarter with more strong shooting. Together, the Generals made 8-of-13 shots from the field and 2-of-5 from deep, with Schleusner and Prechel pacing the efforts with 14 points combined in the frame.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Schleusner scored a game-high 23 points on 11-of-17 shooting, and she also grabbed 14 rebounds for her seventh double-double of the season. Prechel scored 18 points from beyond the arc, going 6-of-10 from outside, while Bryant and McGuinness both tallied nine points, five rebounds and two assists. Sophomore
Zou Raine was the team's top distributor with a career-high six dimes.
Elyse Waldal paced the Bearcats' offense with 18 points, followed by 10 from Gio Horner. Peyton Gardner scored eight points and had eight assists, with Alexis Dockter matching Gardner's eight points.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Schleusner moved to within 15 rebounds of becoming the program's all-time rebounds leader with her 14 boards on the night. With 1,032 career rebounds, only Jessica Hunsinger '07 has more for the program with 1,046.
TEAM STATS:
W&L ended the game shooting 44.6 percent (29-65) from the field, including 37.5 percent (9-24) from three-point range, compared to Willamette's 36.5 percent (23-63) overall and 34.6 percent (9-26) from deep. Both teams only missed one free throw, as W&L went 7-of-8 and the Bearcats went 5-of-6.
The Generals dished out a total of 22 assists, which marked a season high and the most in a single game since posting the same number on February 23 of last season against Randolph.
The Blue and White held a plus-10 advantage in total rebounds (42-32) on the night, with a 15-10 advantage in offensive rebounds. The Generals also outscored the Bearcats in points off turnovers (20-14) and points in the paint (36-24), while Willamette's bench outscored W&L's, 16-13.
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to action on Sunday, December 29, when they take on Concordia College (Minn.) at 5:00 p.m. on the first day of the Gratz Park Private Wealth Holiday Tournament.
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.
