LEXINGTON, Va. – The Washington and Lee women’s basketball team used a 20-2 run across the first two quarters to surge past Juniata on Sunday, 79-43, in the second day of the W&L Invitational.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Generals (4-0) and Eagles (1-4) remained close through the first four minutes of the game, but sophomore Elka Prechel then nailed a three-point shot to kickstart the 20-2 run. Sophomore Mary Schleusner led the run with seven points total, while Prechel hit another three in the run to put up six points in the stretch.
Now with a 28-9 lead at the 8:20 mark of the second quarter, the Eagles were still unable to muster up a threatening offensive effort as the Generals went into halftime with a 36-19 advantage.
W&L’s defense smothered Juniata in the first half, limiting the Eagles to just 18.8 percent shooting (6-32) from the floor, including 8.3 percent (1-12) during the 20-2 run.
The Eagles only gained one point’s-worth of traction across the first six minutes of the third quarter, before another Prechel three pointer went down to begin a 9-0 run to jump the W&L lead up to 53-29. Over the final 14 minutes of regulation, Juniata only scored on consecutive possessions once, which came on a buzzer beater to end the third before starting the fourth with the ball.
TOP PERFORMERS
Schleusner logged her fourth straight double-double to begin the season, finishing with 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting, to go along with 14 rebounds, four assists, three blocks and three steals. Sophomore Quinn McGuinness was the only other W&L player to score in double figures (10 points), however, three other players scored at least eight each, led by Prechel who had nine. Junior Lauren Achter totaled another double-digit rebound effort, securing 10 boards with eight points.
Bri Bodtorf led the Juniata offense with 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting, followed by nine points from Lanie Gerdich and eight points from Haily Sherman. Sherman and Steph Emert both had six rebounds to tie for the team high.
NOTEWORTHY POINTS:
The Generals are off to their first 4-0 start to a season since the 2017-18 campaign. In the first four games this season, Schleusner has recorded no less than 14 rebounds in each contest. She currently holds averages of 27.0 points, 14.5 rebounds and 4.0 blocks and a field goal percentage of 0.653 in the early going.
TEAM STATS:
W&L finished the game shooting 43.7 percent (31-71) while limiting the Eagles to just 23.0 percent (14-61) from the floor and 13.6 percent (3-22) from long range. The Blue and White also won the rebounding battle, 54-36, and held advantages in points off turnovers (23-10), second-chance points (16-8), bench points (39-8), points in the paint (36-16) and fastbreak points (14-4).
UP NEXT:
The Generals will return to action after Thanksgiving with a 1:00 p.m. opening tip-off in Holekamp Gym against Emory on Saturday, November 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.