Historic Hoops Season Ends W&L Women Suffer First Loss Of Season In Elite Eight
A historic season came to an end for the Washington and Lee University women’s basketball team, which suffered its only loss of the season with a 77-64 home setback against Denison University in the NCAA Division III quarterfinals on Saturday night at W&L’s Holekamp Gym in Lexington.
The third-ranked Generals, who were coming off a 75-67 comeback win over Bethel in the Sweet 16 on Friday night, were attempting to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history, but Denison had other plans. W&L wrapped up the season with a record of 31-1. Eighthranked Denison (28-2) advanced to a national semifinal matchup with the second-ranked University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (28-3), which is scheduled for Thursday at 5 p.m. at Roanoke College’s Cregger Center in Salem.
Taking on the Generals in front of a sold-out crowd for the second night in a row, Denison had a strong first half, going up 24-16 after the first quarter and taking a 38-28 lead into halftime. The Generals responded with an impressive third quarter, outscoring the Big Red 22-12 to tie the game at 50-50 by the end of the period.
At the start of the fourth quarter, the Big Red went up 52-50 on a basket by Abby Cooch and led the rest of the way, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers midway through the period to go up 64-56. Denison ended the game by scoring on its final seven possessions and shot 58.3 percent from the field in the fourth quarter.
W&L senior forward Mary Schleusner led all players with 27 points, 29 rebounds and three steals to go along with three blocks. Quinn Mc-Guinness scored 11 points and pulled down four boards for the Generals, while Sam Collins chipped in 10 points.
Ada Taute paced four Denison double- digit scorers with 24 points, while Molly Dorighi scored 19 points, shooting 14-of-16 from the free throw line. Cooch added 12 points for the Big Red, and Brooke Toigo chipped in 10. Anelly Mad-toingué led the Big Red with 15 rebounds to go along with four points.
W&L went 25-0 during the regular season to go undefeated for the first time in program history, and the Generals went on to win the Old Dominion Athletic Conference title for the third time in four years. The Generals advanced to the national quarterfinals for only the second time in program history. The first time was two years ago, when the Generals went 29-3 and were ousted by Wartburg College 68-58 in the quarterfinals. Last year, W&L went 25-5, concluding the season with a 75-71 loss to Baldwin Wallace in the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The Generals, under the direction of second-year head coach Brittney Kemp, the ODAC coach of the year, will graduate six seniors. Leading the team this year was Schleusner, the ODAC player of the year and defensive player of the year for the third consecutive year. This season, Schleusner broke the NCAA Division III record for career rebounds, and she became the all-time leading scorer in ODAC history. The other five seniors graduating are McGuinness, Icy Keneah, Katie Lawson, Elka Prechel and Sarah Zimmerman.
W&L 75, Bethel 67
With an impressive second half, the Generals overcame an eight-point halftime deficit to defeat Bethel University (Minn.) 75-67 in the Sweet 16 on Friday night at Holekamp Gym.
Bethel (24-7) led 17-15 after the first quarter and extended its lead to 35-27 at halftime, but the Generals went on a 9-0 run and outscored the Royals 25-16 in the third quarter to take a 52-51 lead before putting the game away in the fourth quarter.
Schleusner led all players with 20 points and 17 rebounds, while Keneah scored 10 points and grabbed four boards. Emily Erickson led Bethel with 13 points, while Alli Born and Carly Peterson chipped in 10 points each.
For more details on the games and W&L’s season, visit www.generalssports. com.
