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Generals Fall To Wartburg In Elite Eight
The ninth-ranked Washington and Lee University women’s basketball team concluded a historic season with a 68-58 loss to No. 6 Wartburg College in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals on Saturday night in Providence, R.I.
The Generals, who had advanced to the quarterfinals with a 61-55 road win over Rhode Island College on Friday night, also in Providence, ended the year with an overall record of 29-3, after going 17-1 in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference and winning their second consecutive ODAC title.
Against Wartburg (29-2), the Generals mounted a fierce second-half comeback, but the Knights held on for the win to advance to a national semifinal match-up against No. 14 Smith College on Thursday in Columbus, Ohio.
Down by 12 points at the start of the third quarter, Quinn McGuinness got the W&L offense going with a 3-pointer. Wartburg held strong for the next four minutes against W&L, but the Generals’ offense starting cooking with a 9-2 run to end the third, which was part of an overall 16-5 run that ended on a McGuinness three-point play.
W&L’s 16-5 run brought the game back to a 48-47 Wartburg lead with 5:09 left in regulation, and it saw the Generals hit 5-of-12 shots from the floor to just 2-of-15 from the Knights. Elka Prechel was a driving force on the run, with six points on two 3-pointers.
That one-point difference proved to be the closest the Generals came to pulling off the comeback, as the Knights outscored the Generals 20-11 over the final five minutes to seal the win.
Wartburg dented the scoreboard first at the 8:23 mark of the first on a Jaedon Murphy layup, but W&L senior Hanna Malik sank a triple to spur a run of seven consecutive W&L points for a 7-2 lead. Murphy then connected on a three to help the Knights end the period on an 11-3 run and take a 13-10 lead into the second.
Both sides traded scores at the start of the second, but Wartburg went on the game’s first sizable run with 11 straight points on the front end of an 18-4 run. The Knights made 6-of-9 shots during that span to build their largest lead of the game (37-21), before the Generals scored the final four points of the half.
W&L’s Mary Schleusner, who was double-teamed and triple-teamed by the Knights, compiled 22 points, 18 rebounds, three blocks and four steals to close out her stellar sophomore year. She made 6-of-14 shots from the field, including both attempts from outside the arc. Malik followed with 15 points and two assists, while McGuinness scored 11 points and came away with four rebounds.
This season will go down as the best season to date for the W&L women’s basketball program. In addition to winning their third ODAC title, the Generals set a program record for wins (29) and winning percentage (.906), and their run through the postseason marked their first three NCAA tournament wins in program history, both of which shattered the top marks of 22 wins and a 0.759 winning percentage a season ago. The Generals’ run through this year’s NCAA tournament also marked the first three NCAA Tournament wins in program history. Guiding W&L was 12th-year head coach Christine Clancy.
Malik finishes her W&L career as one of the school’s best shooters. She ends at 36.5 percent shooting from beyond the arc, besting the previous all-time best of 36.2 percent held by Taylor Casey ‘20. Malik is also the new program all-time record holder in free throw percentage (.879) and she finished just one made three-point field goal away from tying 2012 W&L graduate Meg Ingram’s program record (260). For points, Malik tallied 1,209 in 96 career games, the 10th-highest total in program history and the 10th-best average in program history (12.6 points per game).
Lastly, Schleusner, a sophomore, turned in one of the finest individual, statistical seasons in program history. She set numerous single-season program records, including most points (765), rebounds (551), blocks (105) and per game averages for points (23.9) and rebounds (17.2).
Including Malik, the Generals will graduate just three seniors. The others are Emma Robertson and Grace O’Connor.
W&L 61, RIC 55
In the Round of 16, Schleusner scored 34 points and grabbed 33 rebounds to lead W&L to a 61-55 win over previously undefeated No. 3 Rhode Island College on Friday night in Providence, R.I.
Schleusner got the offense going for the Generals with the first two buckets of the game, while the defense held the Anchorwomen (29-1) off the board until a Jeniyah Jones layup at the 5:51 mark. That score spurred the hosts to a 7-6 lead, but Schleusner capped the scoring in the opening frame with six points, to give her team a 12-9 lead entering the second.
Schleusner and Sarah Zimmerman teamed up for six of the second quarter’s first nine points, as the W&L lead grew to 18-12 by the 7:48 mark. RIC then found its stroke on the offensive end with a 10-4 run, in which they made 4-of-6 shots, to tie the game 22-22. Both teams then traded one basket apiece, before Schleusner hit on a turnaround jumper and Malik buried a triple with 56 seconds left for a 29-24 halftime advantage.
Both defenses stood strong out of the gate to start the third quarter, as RIC pulled back to within three points at the 6:35 mark. The Generals, however, held the Anchorwomen to just 2-of-9 shooting the rest of the period, while sinking 5-of-8 shots of their own to build their lead through three quarters to 45-33.
That 12-point lead was W&L’s largest of the game, as RIC gradually chipped away at its deficit, until a triple banked in by Izabelle Booth with 28 seconds made it a three-point game. For the remainder of the night, the Generals’ defense got the stops it needed, and they made 5-of-8 free throws on the opposite end to secure the program’s first all-time appearance in the NCAA quarterfinals.
Schleusner’s 34 points came on an efficient 14-of-20 shooting from the floor, while 30 of her 33 total rebounds on the night were defensive. Schleusner also made 1-of-2 shots from beyond the arc and added five blocks and three steals. Zimmerman followed with 13 points on 3-of-5 shooting, plus a 7-of-10 effort at the free-throw line. Malik chipped in 10 points, and McGuinness led W&L with three assists.
Schleusner not only posted the first 30-point, 30-rebound game in program history, her 33 rebounds set new program, ODAC and NCAA Division III tournament records for a single game.
