LEXINGTON, Va. – Junior
Sarah Zimmerman scored a career-high 17 points and the No. 16 Washington and Lee defense shut down the Ferrum offense, as the Generals claimed a 63-50 win over the Panthers on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Panthers (8-6, 3-3 ODAC) opened the game as the stronger side with an 8-4 lead through the first 4:20 of play. Despite the low score, both teams shot an even 50 percent in the early going. Ferrum then grew its first-quarter lead to 13-7 at the 3:17 mark, helped by a three from Aisha Martin, before W&L (12-2, 4-1 ODAC) ended the first on a 9-2 run. During the run, the Generals made all three of their field goal attempts, while not allowing a single field goal attempt from Ferrum.
The Generals then continued their strong defensive play in the second quarter, as the Panthers shot 2-of-14 overall. Both Ferrum field goals came inside the first 3:15 of the quarter, before W&L held them to 0 for their last 7 heading into halftime. Overall, the Generals outscored the Panthers 13-2 in the final 6:25 of the half, with four points each from Zimmerman and junior
Mary Schleusner.
Ferrum made a push in the third quarter at regaining the lead with an 11-4 run across five minutes of play to cut their deficit to two points. The Generals responded, however, by scoring the next 18 points to run their lead back to 20 points with 7:40 left to play. Zimmerman led the run with five points, with sophomore
Zou Raine scoring four, including a smooth mid-range, stepback jumper to drop her defender.
The 20-point lead established by the Generals proved to be too much for the Panthers to overcome. They finished the game strongly, though, outscoring W&L 18-11 to finish the game.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Zimmerman paced all players with a career-high 17 points, as she shot 6-of-11 overall, 1-for-2 from long range and 4-for-4 at the foul line. Schleusner recorded 14 points, 14 rebounds, three blocks and two steals, while Raine and junior
Quinn McGuinness combined for 21 points.
Allyson Cassell led the Panthers with 13 points, plus six rebounds and two assists. Aisha Martin followed with 10 points, while Kleiauna Riddick and Maslyn Mosbacher both scored nine points and combined for 13 rebounds.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Schleusner's 14 points on Saturday moved her within 15 points of passing Jessica Hunsinger '07 for third place on the program's all-time points list.
TEAM STATS:
The Generals shot 39.3 percent (24-61) for the game, but shot 40 percent or better in three of the four quarters. They also held Ferrum to 30.6 percent (19-62) shooting, including 21.9 percent (7-32) across the second and third quarters. W&L assisted on 18 of their 24 made field goal attempts, came away with 11 steals and forced 16 turnovers overall.
W&L also held scoring advantages off turnovers (10-8), bench points (25-5), in the paint (36-22) and fastbreak points (23-6).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will continue their ODAC homestand on Wednesday when they host Shenandoah at 5:00 p.m. in a rematch of the 2024 conference title game.
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.
