Week 9

WASHINGTON AND LEE WOMEN'S BASKETBALL (11-8, 10-5 ODAC) 

Feb. 9 vs. Emory & Henry (5-12, 4-8 ODAC); 7:00 pm
Feb. 13 vs. Randolph-Macon (14-5, 12-3 ODAC); 2:00 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 83-93 (.472) 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 9-4 versus Emory & Henry and is 1-15 versus Randolph-Macon.

THE WEEK AHEAD
The Generals remain in the friendly confines of the Warner Center this week, facing Emory & Henry on Tuesday and Randolph-Macon on Saturday. This season, the Generals are 5-2 at home, having dropped only one ODAC contest on their home court (Jan. 5 vs. Virginia Wesleyan, 47-48). W&L defeated Emory & Henry, 55-45, on Jan. 23 and now owns a three-game winning streak against the Wasps. E&H leads the all-time series with a 18-14 record, but they have not posted a victory at the Warner Center since the 2002-03 season (six contests). The Blue and White fell to Randolph-Macon on Jan. 3, 70-50. Last season, the Generals snapped a 15-game losing streak to the Yellow Jackets, but R-MC still leads the overall series, 31-5.

LAST TIME OUT (vs. Lynchburg College, W, 72-67)
Four Generals recorded double-digit points as W&L defeated Lynchburg College, 72-67, on Sunday at the Warner Center. Lynchburg College took an early 8-5 lead at the 17:41 mark in the first half, but the Generals extended their lead to as many as 12 points with 8:59 remaining (26-14). LC closed the game to four points at the half (33-29), going on a 15-7 run to close out the first period. The Hornets would claim their largest lead of the game at four points (52-56) with 7:44 remaining in the second half, but the Generals forced five turnovers and went on a 20-11 run to close out the game, fueled by nine points from sophomore forward Becca Bolton. The Hornets shot 46.3 percent (25-54) from the field in the game, while going 12-of-13 from the charity stripe (93.2 percent). W&L was 24-of-56 (42.9 perecent) shooting, but only connected on 15-of-23 (65.2 percent) from the line. Sophomore guard Meg Ingram led W&L with 17 points, while Bolton chipped in 16 points and 10 rebounds, including 13 points in the second half.  Sophomore forward Kari Ann Pfannenstein added 15 points and junior guard Allie Long contributed 13 points.


LAST TIME VS. EMORY & HENRY (Jan. 23, W, 55-45)
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 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 14 points and 11 boards.

LAST TIME VS. RANDOLPH-MACON (Jan. 3, L, 50-70)
Senior center Molly Ariail paced three Yellow Jackets in double-figures with 22 points as Randolph-Macon cruised to a 70-50 victory over Washington and Lee at Crenshaw Gymnasium. R-MC never trailed in the contest and jumped out to a 10-point lead (31-21) at the break.  The Yellow Jackets stretched their advantage to as many as 25 points (61-36) with 8:26 remaining in claiming their second-straight win over the Generals. W&L was led by sophomore forward Becca Bolton, who tallied 12 points and seven rebounds.  First-year forward Rachel Warrick totaled 11 points, while first-year guard Katy Wilson chipped in 10 points. Ariail notched nine rebounds, four blocks and four steals to go with her game-high point total, while sophomore guard Maggie Roy posted 17 points.

SCOUTING EMORY & HENRY
Emory & Henry is currently 5-12 on the season, including a 4-8 mark in the ODAC. After starting their season with a 4-3 record, the Wasps have now dropped seven consecutive contests, winning only one game in 2010 (Jan. 12 vs. Hollins, 72-70). E&H is coming off a 74-54 loss to Eastern Mennonite on Thursday. EMU scored first and never looked back, leading 36-32 at the break. In the second half, the Royals kept up their offensive pace but put the clamps on the Wasps. Emory & Henry shot just 32 percent in the final 20 minutes as EMU coasted to the 20-point win. Junior guard Christina Howard led Emory & Henry with 17 points off the bench. The Wasps have three players averaging double-digit points on the season, including senior guard Sarah Petty (12.8), senior foward Alex Lyons (10.7) and senior guard Baylie Snyder (10.3). Lyons leads the team in rebounding with 7.7 rebounds per game, while Petty leads the assists (3.6 apg) and steals (1.4 spg) categories.

SCOUTING RANDOLPH-MACON
Randolph-Macon will face Eastern Mennonite and Hollins before making the trip to Lexington on Saturday. The Yellow Jackets currently find themselves second in the ODAC standings, with a 12-3 record and 14-5 overall. R-MC is led by Molly Ariail, who is averaging 20.2 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.1 steals and 1.3 blocked shots per game.

TENS
With a win over Lynchburg College on Saturday, head coach Mandy King helped the Generals reach the 10-win plateau in ODAC competition for the fifth time in program history. She also reached the 10-win mark overall against Randolph on Thursday, the 10th time in program history. In her seven seasons at the helm, King has recorded five 10+ win seasons and three 10+ win seasons against the ODAC.

SHOOTING STARS I
Junior center Felice Herman and sophomore forward Becca Bolton are among the top shooters in the ODAC. Herman now sits atop the ODAC field goal percentage leaderboard, shooting 53 percent (70-132), while Bolton is in fourth at 50.7 percent (107-211). In the past six games, the two have combined to shoot 55.8 percent (82-147) from the field, while going 47-of-62 (.758) from the charity stripe.

SHOOTING STARS II
Saturday’s matchup against Randolph-Macon will feature three of the top five shooting percentage leaders in the ODAC. Currently, junior center Felice Herman leads the ODAC, shooting 53 percent (70-132), with sophomore forward Becca Bolton in fourth at 50.7 percent (107-211) and R-MC senior center Molly Ariail in fifth, shooting 50.2 percent (140-279).

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 78.1 percent (883-1,131) of its points thus far. The pentad is averaging 48.8 points, 26.6 rebounds and 11.1 assists per game.

TOP OF THE HEAP
Sophomore guard Becca Bolton has led the charge for the Generals this season as the top scorer and rebounder in 11 of 19 contests, and has been the team leader in either individual category in 18 of the teams’ 19 contests. Bolton recorded 31 points against Guilford on Jan. 29, becoming the first W&L player since Meg Ingram to record 30+ points in a contest (Dec. 30, 2008 vs. Newport News Apprentice, 31 pts.). During that contest, Bolton also went a perfect 11-11 from the line, tying a program record for best free throw percentage in a game (recorded two other occasions).

OFF THE BENCH
First-year guard Katy Wilson has found a spot in the Generals rotation this season as a solid option off the bench. She has seen action in all 19 contests for W&L, scoring a point in every game. Wilson is averaging 5.3 points (fifth on team), 3.6 rebounds (third on team) and is shooting 41.4 percent (36-87, fourth on team) from the field.

SEEING DOUBLES
Sophomore guard Becca Bolton recorded her 10th double-double of the season and 18th of her career on Feb. 7 against Lynchburg College (16 pts, 10 reb), adding to her career-high for double-doubles in a season (she recorded eight last year). Bolton still trails Jessica Hunsinger ‘06, who recorded a program-high 14 double-doubles during her rookie campaign (2003-04) and 47 for her career. Over Bolton’s two-year career, the Generals are 11-7 (.611) 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 12 contests, Herman has averaged 10.9 points and 6.6 rebounds per game, while taking an average of 8.3 shots per game and going 57-100 (.570) from the field.

QUEENS OF THE BOARDS
The top two rebounders in the ODAC will face each other on Saturday, with Randolph-Macon senior center Molly Ariail currently leading the ODAC in rebounding, averaging 12.1 boards per game. Sophomore forward Becca Bolton is right behind, with an average of 11.2 rebounds per game. Ariail led the last matchup between the two players, recording nine rebounds to Bolton’s seven on Jan. 3.

DIFFERENTIATING POINTS
W&L has 10 ODAC victories this season, and has outscored its opponents, 709-553 (15.6 ppg), in those contests. In its five ODAC losses, W&L has been outscored, 290-261 (5.8 ppg). Four of the five contests were decided by a combined nine points (2.3 point average), with the Generals going 2-4 in games decided by four points or less.

TARGET IN SIGHT
In the Generals’ 11 wins this season, they have shot a combined 43.2 percent (269-622) from the floor.  Compare that to the team’s eight losses, where W&L has shot just 36.3 percent (149-411) from the field. Currently the Generals rank third in the ODAC, shooting 40.6 percent (419-1033) from the field.

TAKE THE LEAD
This season, the Generals are 9-1 when leading and 1-0 when the game is tied 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 six of the 11 other contests separated by single-digit margins. On the flip side, in the eight contests that W&L has been down at the half, three games have been by double-digits.

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 39-35 (.527) record in January and 25-27 (.481) mark in February. The Generals went 7-3 (.700) in January this season, the second-best record during the first year of the month in program history (last season the team went 8-3 (.727) in January).

--GENERALS--