LEXINGTON, Va. - The Washington and Lee University women's basketball team returns to the floor this season as the preseason favorites in the annual Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) Coaches' Poll after collecting ten of the 12 possible first-place votes and 120 points.

The Generals claimed the top spot in the preseason poll for the third-straight season while Randolph-Macon, the 2025 ODAC Champions, earned two first-place votes and 108 points to sit in second place. Bridgewater followed the Yellow Jackets in third with 102 points with Roanoke (91) in fourth and Shenandoah University rounding out the top five with 74 points.

The Blue and White are coming off a 25-5 campaign in 2024-25 where they made an appearance in the ODAC Championship game for the third-straight year as well as an appearance in the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. They posted the second-best winning percentage in program history (.833) while scoring the second most points with 2,178. W&L posted a 14-2 record during conference play, outscoring their opponents 1,164-885 while holding their opponents to an average of 55.3 points per game. The Generals secured a NCAA Tournament First Round win, defeating the United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA) 65-53 before falling to No. 7 Baldwin Wallace University by four in the second round.

2025-26 ODAC Women's Basketball Preseason Poll

1. Washington and Lee University (10) 120 pts.
2. Randolph-Macon College (2) 108 pts.
3. Bridgewater College 102 pts.
4. Roanoke College 91 pts.
5. Shenandoah University 74 pts.
6. Guilford College 70 pts.
7. University of Lynchburg 59 pts.
8. Hollins University 54 pts.
9. Virginia Wesleyan University 39 pts.
10. Randolph College 29 pts.
11. Eastern Mennonite University 28 pts.
12. Averett University 18 pts.

National Poll/Preseason Awards

The Blue and White checked in at No. 6 in both the D3hoops.com and Women’s Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III preseason polls. It is the second-straight season that W&L has been a Top Ten team to start the season, checking in at No. 7 (D3hoops.com) and No. 8 (WBCA) last season. New York University, the two-time defending national champions, topped both polls while Scranton received five first-place votes to check in at No. 2 in the D3hoops.com poll. The University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh followed Scranton in third, followed by Smith in fourth, with Bowdoin rounding out the top five. In the WBCA poll, Smith picked up the final first-place vote to follow the Violets in second, with Bowdoin and Scranton in third and fourth, respectively. UW-Oshkosh rounded out the top five in the coaches’ poll.

Senior Mary Schleusner secured her third-straight preseason honor, being named a D3hoops.com Preseason First Team All-American, which marks the second-straight season that she has checked in on the first team. Schleusner added to her already impressive résumé last season, being named a WBCA and D3hoops.com First Team All-American for the second-straight season, the ODAC Player and Defensive Player of the Year, and the D3hoops.com Region 6 Player of the Year.

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

Hear from Coach

2025-26 Schedule Overview

The season tips off on November 8-9 at the Women Leaders Tip Off Tournament in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where Washington and Lee will face Allegheny College and Chatham University. The Generals return home for their season opener on November 12 against Southern Virginia University inside Holekamp Gym, before heading to Virginia Beach for the TowneBank Tipoff Tournament (November 15-16). There, W&L will meet Washington College (Md.) in the opener and play in either the consolation or championship game the following day against Virginia Wesleyan University or Marymount University.

To close out November, the Generals host University of Lynchburg on November 22, then travel to Averett University on December 2 before welcoming Stevenson University to Lexington on December 14. Before the holiday break, Washington and Lee will travel to Daytona Beach, Florida, to compete in the Daytona Beach Shootout, where they will face University of New England on December 20 and Carroll University on December 21. 

The Generals return home to start the new year on January 4 against Emory University, followed by their ODAC opener at Randolph College on January 7. The heart of the conference schedule includes home matchups with Shenandoah (Jan. 10), Bridgewater (Jan. 21), Roanoke (Jan. 28), Eastern Mennonite (Feb. 4), Randolph (Feb. 11), Hollins (Feb. 14), and Guilford (Feb. 21). On the road, W&L will face familiar rivals including Hollins (Jan. 14), Randolph-Macon (Jan. 17), Guilford (Jan. 24), Virginia Wesleyan (Jan. 31), Lynchburg (Feb. 7), and Bridgewater (Feb. 18). 

Postseason play begins with the ODAC Quarterfinals on February 25,  followed by the semifinals and championship at the Salem Civic Center (February 28-March 1). The national tournament opens with the First and Second Rounds on March 6–7, followed by the Round of 16 and Quarterfinals on March 13-14. Should the Generals advance, they’ll head to the Cregger Center in Salem for the NCAA Semifinals on March 19 and the National Championship on March 21.

Key Returners

The Blue and White return both of their All-ODAC selections in Mary Schleusner and Quinn McGuinness this season, along with all but two players from last year’s squad. Schleusner and McGuinness are among the team leaders in average minutes with 32.1 and 29.8, respectively. McGuinness led the team in free throw percentage (.784) and assists (80), while Schleusner posted team highs in points per game (21.6), rebounds (569), rebounds per game (19.0), blocks (87), and steals (47).

Senior Elka Prechel started all 30 games last season and averaged 28.1 minutes per game in her junior season. She knocked down a team-high 63 three-pointers last season for 215 points, with an average of 7.2 per game. Senior Sarah Zimmerman is one of four players, alongside Prechel, Schleusner, and McGuinness, to average over 20 minutes per game last season. She played in 23 games with 11 starts. Zimmerman averaged 9.6 points per game on 41.8% shooting while being a threat on the defensive end. She collected 92 boards last season with an average of four per game, while registering 25 steals and 24 blocks.

Juniors Riley Bryant and Bri Shuttlewood also averaged significant minutes last season. Bryant started 24 games during her sophomore campaign, averaging 19.9 minutes per game while putting up 5.2 points per game and grabbing 142 rebounds, the second-most on the team. Shuttlewood averaged 17.5 minutes per game off the bench for the Generals in 2024–25. She registered 4.1 points per game while connecting on 24 of her 79 three-point attempts (.304). Junior Zou Raine is back for the Blue and White after playing in 26 games last season, starting 23. She averaged 17.7 minutes per game in 2024-25, knocking down 58 of her 139 field goals for a career-high 41.7 percentage. She grabbed 57 boards while registering 16 steals and nine blocks.

Team Captains

Upcoming Milestones and Records

Senior Mary Schleusner is nearing 2,000 points for her career, needing only 174 points to become the first player in program history to surpass the milestone. She is also just seven assists and 12 steals away from moving into the top ten in both respective categories. Schleusner is also narrowing in on the ODAC’s career scoring record, which was set by Megan Silva of Randolph-Macon from 2002–2006; she needs 546 points to become the conference’s all-time leading scorer. Additionally, she is 48 blocks away from resetting the ODAC’s blocked shots record, which was set by Laurie Miller of EMU from 1994–1998 with 329.

Schleusner is also looking to become Division III's all-time leading rebounder, needing just 248 to surpass Jordan Holmes of Denison record of 1,711 rebounds which she set from 2014-17. She is also 16 double-doubles away from resetting the Division III record which is currently held by Kathryn Stockbower (Swarthmore) and Kelly Williams (Randolph-Macon) with 83 during their careers.

Senior Elka Prechel is nearing the program’s three-pointer record, needing just 46 triples to surpass Meg Ingram’s 260, which was set from 2008–2012. She is also closing in on joining the 1,000-Point Club, needing 293 points to become the 17th player in program history to reach the milestone.

Quinn McGuinness is also closing in on a few program top-ten marks in scoring, assists, steals, and three-pointers. She is nearing the 1,000-Point Club alongside Prechel, needing 373 points to reach the milestone, while needing 29 assists to break into the top ten. McGuinness is 71 steals and 29 three-pointers away from breaking into the record books in those respective categories.

New Faces on Staff

Head coach Brittney Kemp welcomed Brittany Stawovy to the Generals' coaching staff on April 28th. 

Stawovy arrives in Lexington following a two-year stint as the lead assistant coach for the Kenyon College women's basketball program. She aided head coach Mary Corbett in all aspects of the program including prepping scouting reports, leading player-coach film sessions, handling travel operations and recruiting. 

Prior to her stop at Kenyon, Stawovy served as a graduate assistant coach for the women's basketball team at Division II Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pa., for two seasons, helping the Griffins to a 39-25 overall record and a 26-18 mark in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC). Stawovy earned her Masters of Education Degree from SHU in May, 2023. While at Seton Hill, Stawovy gained additional coaching experience as the eighth grade head coach for Erudite AA Basketball and an assistant for the Western PA Bruins AAU basketball team. 

Stawovy earned Bachelor's Degrees in Secondary Education and English Literature, with minors in Special Education and Honors, from West Virginia Wesleyan College, and holds teaching certifications in two states. While there, Stawovy was a four-year member and two-year team captain for the women's basketball team where she totaled 618 points, 301 rebounds, 174 assists and 75 steals as a 31.7-percent three-point shooter.