LEXINGTON, Va. – The 17th-ranked Washington and Lee women's basketball team outscored Roanoke 25-12 in the third quarter and 40-24 in the second half to pull away for a 79-65 win on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After Roanoke's (13-12, 9-7 ODAC) Nadia Snesarev banked in a layup to open the third-quarter scoring and give her team a 43-39 lead, the Generals (22-3, 14-2 ODAC) held the Maroons to just 2-of-7 shooting from the field the rest of the quarter, on their way to a 25-10 run. W&L hit 8-of-18 shots overall and was led by a team-high 17 points from junior
Mary Schleusner in the period. That run put the Generals up, 64-53, heading into the fourth.
The Generals continued to limit Roanoke's success in the fourth quarter, as they only allowed consecutive baskets twice and did not allow their deficit to shrink into single digits. Juniors
Icy Keneah and
Quinn McGuinness paced the W&L offense in the fourth with four points each to close out the team's 22nd win of the season.
The Maroons got off to a perfect start to the game, leading 9-0 after 2:14 on one three each by Ashley Fowler, Peyton Kirchner and Paige Breuer. W&L responded with a 12-2 run, however, capped off by a
Brianna Shuttlewood triple at the 4:52 mark to get the Generals their first lead of the game (12-11). For the remainder of the half, both teams battled back and forth, with Roanoke scoring 30 and W&L 27, with 15 lead changes in the 15 minutes leading up to halftime.
TOP PERFORMERS:
Schleusner led all players in both points (26) and rebounds (28) in the game in posting her fourth game of the season with at least 25 points and 25 rebounds. She made 8-of-16 shots from the field and 10-of-12 free throws, while adding two assists, two blocks and a steal. Keneah posted a career-high 13 points and grabbed three rebounds, with McGuinness adding 11 points, three boards and two steals. Shuttlewood and first-year
Megan Zimmerman both scored eight points on 3-of-5 shooting.
Breuer paced the Maroons' offense with 23 points on 9-of-19 shooting from the floor and 3-for-6 from outside. Fowler scored 13 points, Kirchner notched 11 points and Snesarev led the team with four rebounds and five assists.
ODAC TOURNAMENT OUTLOOK:
The Generals had already secured a Top-4 seed for the ODAC Championship next week entering the day. Following the completion of action around the league, the Generals are slotted into the third-seed for the tournament and will face Guilford. For a complete look at the 2025 ODAC Championship field, click
here.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
Schleusner closed in on two program records and is threatening an ODAC all-time mark. She became the second player in program history to reach 1,700 points, and she needs just 33 more to break Jessica Mentz's '02 (1,742) program record. Additionally, she is three blocks away from breaking Jessica Hunsinger's '07 program record for most blocks in a career (267).
With 28 more rebounds on Saturday, Schleusner is now within 23 of breaking Randolph-Macon's Kelly Williams' record for most total rebounds in a career (1,395).
The Generals' 22nd win of the season ties the 2022-23 team for the second most in a season in program history. Only last year's team has ever won more in a campaign (29-3).
TEAM STATS:
W&L shot 38 percent (27-71) from the field to Roanoke's 43.4 percent (23-53). The Maroons made 11 threes at a rate of 42.3 percent, five more triples than the Blue and White, but the Generals outscored Roanoke by 11 at the free throw line (19-8).
The Generals held a 48-26 advantage in rebounding, including a 23-5 margin in offensive boards, to outscore the Maroons 24-6 in second-chance points. The Blue and White also held significant positive margins in points off turnovers (25-15), bench points (42-16), points in the paint (42-20) and fastbreak points (15-0).
UP NEXT:
The Generals have drawn sixth-seeded Guilford for their ODAC Tournament quarterfinal matchup, which will be hosted by W&L on Tuesday at 5:00 p.m. The Generals won the regular season matchup against the Quakers, 69-53, on January 25.
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.
