Week 7

WASHINGTON AND LEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (8-7, 7-4 ODAC) 

Jan. 29 vs. Guilford College (9-8, 6-6 ODAC); 7:00 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 an 80-92 (.465) record.  She is assisted by Abby Pyzik (Lynchburg ‘04), who is in her second season. Facing this week’s competition, King holds a record of 6-7 versus Guilford.

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Blue and White will enjoy a week off between contests and play only one game this week, facing Guilford on Friday. W&L will look to rebound from a close loss earlier this season at Guilford (55-52). The Quakers own the all-time series with a 25-7 advantage.

LAST TIME OUT (at Emory & Henry, 1/23/10)
Washington and Lee limited Emory & Henry to just 31.0 percent (14-45) shooting from the floor and forced 21 Wasp turnovers in posting a 55-45 win on Saturday evening at the King Center. The Generals trailed 19-16 with 6:16 left in the first half, but closed the opening stanza on a 15-3 run to assume a 31-22 lead at the break. W&L shot 60.0 percent (12-20) from the field in the first half and, despite cooling off to just 26.0 percent (5-19) shooting in the second period, opened a 19-point lead (47-28) with 10:23 left in the game en route to posting the 10-point victory, its third-straight against E&H. Sophomore forward Becca Bolton led Washington and Lee with 19 points and 12 rebounds for her eighth double-double of the season. Junior center Felice Herman also notched a double-double with 16 points and 11 boards.

LAST TIME VS. GUILFORD
Sophomore guard Jazlyn Gibbs hit a three-pointer with six seconds remaining to lift Guilford to a 55-52 win over Washington and Lee on Dec. 2. The Quakers held a 52-47 lead with 2:13 remaining, but first-year forward Rachel Warrick nailed a three-pointer with 1:36 left and sophomore forward Becca Bolton knocked down a pair of free throws with 52 seconds remaining to knot the game at 52-52 and set up Gibbs’ game-winner. W&L led by as many as nine points (19-10) in the first half, but the Quakers used a 22-3 run across both halves to post a 32-22 lead with 18:44 left the play.  W&L then used a 19-5 run of its own to go up 41-37 with 9:34 to play. Bolton led W&L with a game-high 16 points and a career-high 19 rebounds.  Warrick notched 12 points, while sophomore guard Meg Ingram chipped in eight points, four rebounds and three assists. Gibbs led the Quakers with 14 points, while senior guard Jasmine Wood totaled 12 points and nine boards.  Junior guard Lauren LeFevers added nine points and 10 rebounds.

SCOUTING GUILFORD
Guilford will have a week off before traveling to Lexington, last playing in a 72-58 loss at Roanoke College on Saturday. Roanoke’s Jordan Gholson tallied 16 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead the Maroons in the win over Guilford. Roanoke never trailed in the contest and opened a 28-20 halftime lead. Guilford senior guard Ann Seufer hit a three-pointer to make it a 48-44 game midway through the second half, but the Maroons answered with a 12-2 spurt over the next 3:20 to open a 14-point spread. The Quakers drew no closer than seven points the rest of the way and the Maroons sealed the win by making all six free-throws in the final three minutes. Senior guard/forward Alexa Williams recorded a game-high 20 points and three steals, while Seufer finished with 14 points for the Quakers. On the season Guilford is led by sophomore guard Jazlyn Gibbs’ 10.5 points per game. Williams is second on the team with an average of 10.0 points per game, while leading the team in rebounds (7.8 rpg). The Quakers are 8-7 on the season, including a 6-6 record in ODAC competition.

SHOOTING STARS
Junior center Felice Herman and sophomore forward Becca Bolton are both among the top shooters in the ODAC. Herman is second in the conference, shooting 52.4 percent (54-103), while Bolton is right behind in third at 51.5 percent shooting (84-163).

HELPING HAND
Sophomore guard Meg Ingram currently leads the ODAC in assists, recording 56 (3.7 apg) helpers on the season. She also ranks fifth in the conference with a 0.97 assist/turnover ratio (56a, 58t).

PROTECT THE ROCK
W&L is averaging 21.7 turnovers per game (325-sixth in the ODAC), but will need to be more protective of the ball when it faces Guilford, who currently lead the conference with 13.2 steals per game. Jasmine Wood (3.1 spg) and Alexa Williams (2.7 spg) rank second and third, respectively, among the ODAC steal leaders.

TOP OF THE HEAP
Sophomore guard Becca Bolton has led the charge for the Generals this season as the top scorer and rebounder in nine of 15 contests, and has been the team leader in either individual category in 14 of the teams’ 15 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 eighth double-double of the season and 16th of her career on Jan. 23 at Emory & Henry (19 pts, 12 reb). Over Bolton’s two-year career, the Generals are 9-7 (.563) when she records a double-double.

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 center Felice Herman seems to have found her stride from last season, when she averaged 10.2 points and 7.1 rebounds per game in leading the ODAC in field goal percentage (.557). Over the last eight contests, Herman has averaged 11.1 points and 7.3 rebounds per game, while taking an average of 8.9 shots per game and going 41-71 (.577) from the field.

DIFFERENTIATING POINTS
W&L has seven ODAC victories this season, and has outscored its opponents 515-369 (20.9 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 75.9 percent (710-935) of its points thus far. The pentad is averaging 47.5 points, 26.6 rebounds and 9.9 assists per game.

A BIG “PFANN”
Sophomore forward Kari Ann Pfannenstein recorded her third double-figure game of the season Jan. 15 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 seven games, she has gone 17-of-35 (.486) from deep, while shooting 43.1 percent (22-51) 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.

A LONG TIME
Notching 10 points against Randolph (1/9) and 11 versus Eastern Mennonite (1/12), junior guard Allie Long recorded consecutive double-digit scoring games for the first time in her three-year career. She also added a double-digit point performance against Hollins last Tuesday, (15 pts.) tying a career-high for points in a game (the other occasion was Jan. 20, 2009 against Hollins) and establishing a career-high for most double-digit point performances in a season (3). In her last six games, Long is shooting 51.7 percent shooting from the field (15-29), including 45.8 percent (11-24) from behind the arc. On the season, Long is shooting 40.6 percent (26-64) from the field, good for third on the team.

ON THE BOARDS - PART ONE
The Generals are outrebounding opponents by a margin of +4.0 rebounds per game (603-543), the third-best margin in the conference. Sophomore guard Becca Bolton ranks second in the ODAC, averaging 11.0 rebounds per game (165 on the season).

ON THE BOARDS - PART TWO
With Guilford only shooting 34.3 percent from the floor (371-1,082-10th in the ODAC) an interesting matchup may develop in the Quakers’ offensive zone as the number one offensive rebounding team (284, 16.7 rpg) will face the number three defensive rebounding team (411, 27.4 rpg) in the conference. Guilford’s Alexa Williams (3.3 rpg) and Alexandria Miles (3.2) are fourth and fifth, respectively, among the ODAC offensive rebounders, while Becca Bolton (7.1 rpg) is second in the conference in defensive rebounds.

TARGET IN SIGHT
In the Generals’ eight wins this season, they have shot a combined 44.5 percent (204-458) 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 (.423, 179-423) than during the second half (.355, 155-437). Currently the Generals rank third in the ODAC, shooting 40.5 percent (330-815) from the field.

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 5-4 when making more threes than an opponent, while shooting 33.1 percent (82-248) from the arc, third-best in the ODAC.
 
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 6.9 points per game, while Wilson has chipped in an average of 5.1 points per game. Warrick has been impressive, notching 3.3 rebounds per game and shooting 81.8 percent (27-33) from the charity stripe in 19.1 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 3.3 rebounds in 23.7 minutes per game.

TAKE THE LEAD
This season, the Generals are 8-1 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 five of the eight 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 38-35 (.521) record in January and 23-26 (.469) mark in February.

--GENERALS--