Week 6

WASHINGTON AND LEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (6-7, 5-4 ODAC) 

Jan. 19 vs. Hollins University (1-12, 0-10 ODAC); 7:00 pm
Jan. 23 at Emory & Henry (5-7, 4-4 ODAC); 4:00 pm

PDF Version of the Notes

KING OF THE GENERALS
Mandy King (Southern Maine ’98) is in her seventh season as head women’s basketball coach at W&L and is the program’s all-time winningest coach with a 78-92 (.459) record.  She is assisted by Abby Pyzik (Lynchburg ‘04), who is in her second season. Facing this week’s competition, King holds records of 12-1 against Hollins and 8-4 versus Emory & Henry.

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Generals will only have two games on the schedule this week, facing Hollins at home on Tuesday before traveling to Emory & Henry on Saturday. W&L is currently on an 11-game winning streak against Hollins, and own a 26-6 all-time record. The last loss to Hollins came in head coach Mandy King’s first season (Jan. 23, 2004, 67-65), but the Generals have not fallen to HU at the Warner Center since Jan. 24, 2003 (52-44). The Generals already defeated Hollins this season, 95-60, on Nov. 30. The Blue and White own a two-game winning streak against Emory & Henry, taking both contests last season. E&H leads the all-time series with an 18-13 record.

LAST TIME OUT (at Bridgewater College, 1/16/10)
Sophomore forward Becca Bolton and junior center Felice Herman both recorded double-doubles to lead Washington and Lee to a 67-58 win over Bridgewater on Saturday. The Generals offset 29 turnovers by shooting 55.0 percent (11-20) from the floor in the second half and holding a 50-32 rebounding advantage for the game. W&L used a 10-1 spurt over a span of 6:31 to build a 17-7 lead at the 13:01 mark of the first half en route to a 10-point lead (32-22) at the break. A 9-2 surge to begin the second stanza pushed the Generals’ lead out to 17 points (41-24) with 17:34 remaining, but the Eagles would make a late run, eventually cutting it to a four-point game (52-48) with 6:28 left in the game.  However, W&L responded with five quick points to push it back to a nine-point advantage (57-48) with 5:20 left and Bridgewater could not muster another run as the Generals walked away with their first win at BC since the 2004-05 season. Bolton scored a game-high 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting from the field and grabbed 18 rebounds.  She also tallied five assists and three steals.  Herman was 9-of-10 from the floor in scoring a season-high 19 points.  She also snared a season-best 12 rebounds.  Sophomore guard Meg Ingram added 13 points and four assists.

THIS SEASON VS HOLLINS (11/30/09, W, 95-60)
Washington and Lee opened the game with a 32-8 run and never looked back in claiming its first win of the season with a 95-60 victory over Hollins on Nov. 30. Sophomore guard Meg Ingram recorded 18 points in the opening 20 minutes and Hollins shot just 18.5 percent (5-27) from the floor in the first period as W&L opened a 51-22 lead at the break. The Generals’ lead swelled to as many as 42 points (77-35) in the second half in cruising to their 11th-straight win over Hollins. Sophomore forward Becca Bolton led W&L with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field.  She also grabbed nine rebounds in 21 minutes of action. Ingram tied a career-high with eight assists to go along with her 18 points in 23 minutes of play.  First-year forward Rachel Warrick totaled 18 points and nine boards, while first-year guard Katy Wilson chipped in 12 points and seven rebounds.  The Generals shot 47.8 percent (33-69) for the game and held a 49-31 advantage on the boards.  W&L also dished 25 assists to just 18 turnovers. Hollins was paced by junior guard Tamara Phillips, who notched a game-high 30 points on 6-of-10 shooting from three-point range.  First-year guard Jasmine Greene chipped in 10 points, six rebounds, four assists and four steals.

SCOUTING HOLLINS
Hollins fell to Lynchburg, 86-56, on Saturday, and are now 1-12 on the season, including a 0-10 record in the ODAC. HU struggled to score in the first half despite getting several good opportunities and trailed at the break (45-17).  Hollins used defensive pressure to cut a 28-point lead to 15 (54-39) midway through the second half, but it was not enough as the Hornets claimed the victory. First-year guard Jasmine Green scored a game-high 17 points and added four assists and four steals.  Junior guard Tamara Phillips went 8-of-9 from the free throw line en route to a 13-point effort, while first-year guard Lacie Forrest came off the bench to add 11 points and three assists. HU is led by Greene and Phillips, who are averaging 17.5 and 16.5 points per game, respectively. They rank as the number two and three scorers in the ODAC. Greene also leads the team with averages of 6.5 rebounds, 3.3 steals and 2.7 assists per game. Phillips leads the ODAC in three-point field goals made, connecting on an average of 3.4 per game.

SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY
The Wasps will travel to Guilford on Tuesday before returning home to host the Generals on Saturday. E&H owns a 5-7 record on the season, going 4-4 in the ODAC. Senior guards Sarah Petty (11.8) and Baylie Snyder (11.6), along with senior forward Alex Lyons (11.2), are all averaging double-digit points for the Wasps this season. Lyons leads the team in rebounds (7.6 rpg), while Petty holds an ODAC-leading 3.8 steals per game average.

BOLTON EARNS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sophomore guard Becca Bolton has been named the ODAC Player of the Week for the week ending January 17.  In three contests last week, Bolton averaged 15.7 points, 15.0 rebounds, 3.7 assists and 2.0 steals per game.  She shot 50.0 percent (19-38) from the floor and 81.8 percent (9-11) from the free throw line.  She tallied 12 points and 12 rebounds in a 66-46 win over Eastern Mennonite on Tuesday, notched 15 points and 15 rebounds in a 57-54 loss to Roanoke on Friday then totaled 20 points, 18 rebounds, five assists and three steals in a 67-58 win over Bridgewater on Saturday.  For the season, Bolton leads the team in scoring (15.4 ppg) and rebounding (10.8 rpg) and she is shooting 50.4 percent (69-137) from the field.

TOP OF THE HEAP
Sophomore guard Becca Bolton has led the charge for the Generals this season as the top scorer and rebounder in seven of 13 contests, and has been the team leader in either individual category 12 of 13 contests. Her streak of 11-straight games with double-digit points (dating back to Feb. 21, 2009) came to an end against Randolph when she recorded only eight points. Bolton recorded her sixth double-double of the season and 14th of her career on Jan. 16 at Bridgewater College (20 pts, 18 reb). Over Bolton’s two-year career, the Generals are only 7-7 (.500) when she records a double-double.

FROM A DISTANCE
Saturday’s matchup between the Generals and Wasps will be one to watch from behind the arc. E&H leads the ODAC in three-point percentage, shooting 35.1 percent (71-202) from deep. W&L is right behind, shooting a second-best 34.3 percent (74-216).

A BIG “PFANN”
Sophomore forward Kari Pfannenstein recorded her third double-figure game of the season on Friday against Roanoke (16 pts), while leading the Generals in scoring for the first time this season. Part of Pfannenstein’s recent success has been her shooting from behind the arc: In her last five games, she has gone 15-of-24 (.625) from deep, while shooting 52.6 percent (20-38) from the field. In comparison, she was shooting only 5-of-27 (.185) from behind the arc and 26.3 percent (10-38) from the field in her first eight contests.

ON THE BOARDS
W&L currently leads the ODAC in rebounding defense, recording 461 rebounds (35.5 rpg) in 13 contests. The Generals are outrebounding opponents by a margin of +4.4 rebounds per game (518-461), the third-best margin in the conference. Sophomore guard Becca Bolton ranks third in the ODAC, averaging 10.8 rebounds per game (141 on the season).

TARGET IN SIGHT
In the Generals’ six wins this season, they have shot a combined 46.1 percent (158-343) from the floor.  Compare that to the team’s seven losses, where W&L has shot just 35.0 percent (127-363) from the field.  Additionally, the Generals tend to shoot better from the floor in the first half of games (.414, 150-362) than during the second half (.360, 138-383). Currently the Generals rank second in the ODAC, shooting 40.6 percent (284-700) from the field.

DIFFERENTIATING POINTS
W&L has five ODAC victories this season, and has outscored opponents 385-264 (24.2 ppg) in those contests. In its four ODAC losses, W&L has been outscored, 230-203 (6.8 ppg). Three of the four contests were decided by a combined seven points (2.3 point average), with the Generals going 0-3 in games decided by four points or less.

THE USUAL SUSPECTS
The Generals’ starting five of Kari Ann Pfannenstein, Meg Ingram, Becca Bolton, Allie Long and Felice Herman have been the driving force behind W&L’s offense this season, scoring 75.8 percent (610-805) of its points thus far. The pentad is averaging 46.9 points, 26.2 rebounds and 10.5 assists per game.

THREE’S COMPANY
After connecting on 12 three-point shots against Randolph on Jan. 9, the Generals tied a program record for most three-point shots made in a game. The other occasion W&L connected on 12 three’s in a game was Feb. 21, 2008, in a 86-61 victory at Guilford. This season, W&L is 4-4 when making more threes than an opponent, while shooting 34.3 percent (74-216) from the arc, second-best in the ODAC.

PUT THE GOOD FOOT FORWARD
After averaging 4.6 points, 4.6 shots and 5.1 rebounds per game over the first seven games, junior forward Felice Herman seems to have found her stride from last season, where she averaged 10.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in leading the ODAC in field goal percentage (.557). Over the last six contests, Herman has averaged 10.5 points and 6.3 rebounds per game, while taking an average of 8.5 shots per game and going 30-51 (.588) from the field.
 
OFF THE BENCH
First-year guard Katy Wilson and first-year forward Rachel Warrick have proven to be solid options for the Generals off the bench during their rookie campaigns. On the season Warrick is averaging 7.3 points per game, while Wilson has chipped in an average of 5.2 points per game. Warrick has been impressive, notching 3.3 rebounds per game and shooting 83.9 percent (26-31) from the charity stripe in 20.0 minutes per game. She has also added six double-digit point performances, third-best on the team. Wilson has contributed two double-digit performances off the bench, while averaging 3.4 rebounds (third-best on the team) in 23.5 minutes per game.

TAKE THE LEAD
This season the Generals are 6-1 when leading at halftime, with their only loss coming at Christopher Newport on Nov. 21. Their largest lead going into the half has been 29 points (at Hollins, 11/30), with three of the six other contests separated by single-digit margins. On the flip side, in the six contests that W&L has been down at the half, three games have been by double-digits.

PULLING AWAY
With three consecutive wins over Lynchburg, Randoph and Eastern Mennonite (Jan. 8-12), W&L recorded back-to-back-to-back 20+ point victories for the first time in program history. Head coach Mandy King has now led the Generals to 27 20+ point victories in her seven seasons. Of those wins, 15 of the 27 have come at home.

NEW YEAR, BETTER RESULTS
Over the past six seasons under head coach Mandy King, the Generals have been more successful in the final two months of the season compared to the first two. King has a record of 10-17 (.370) in November and 9-16 (.360) in December, but in turn has led W&L to a 36-35 (.507) record in January and 23-26 (.469) mark in February.

--GENERALS--