Washington and Lee University
SCOUTING THE ROYALS: EMU enters the week with an 8-3 overall mark (4-2 ODAC). The Royals split their contests last week, falling to Lynchburg (68-55) on Friday before defeating Hollins (86-23) on Saturday. EMU is currently the ODAC’s top offensive team, averaging 72.1 points per contest, and is led by junior forward Carolyn Riley’s conference-best 18.2 points per game. Riley is also posting 7.5 rebounds per game (6th in ODAC). Senior center Jolene Kratz (11.1 ppg) and senior guard Tara Jones (10.5 ppg) average double figures for Eastern Mennonite.
LAST MEETING WITH EMU (2/23/07): Sixth-seeded Washington and Lee fell behind 9-0 at the start of game and shot just 26.8 percent from the floor (15-56), but the Generals recovered to post a 53-43 victory over third-seeded Eastern Mennonite in the first round of the ODAC Women’s Basketball Tournament at the Salem Civic Center. W&L did not score in the opening seven minutes of the game, but responded to the Royals’ opening run with a 15-0 surge to assume a 15-9 lead with 5:48 left before the half. EMU fought back to knot the game at 16-16, but the Generals carried a 22-19 lead into halftime. W&L continued to struggle shooting from the floor in the second stanza and the Royals assumed a 37-33 lead with 6:18 left in the game. However, the Generals were able to close on a 20-6 run, aided by 8-for-8 shooting from the foul line in the final 1:26 in posting their first ODAC Tournament victory since the 1998-99 season. Forward Hayley James scored a game-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point range and hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds. Guard Emily Wolff posted 13 points and eight boards, while forward Kristen Krouchick notched eight points, seven rebounds and three assists. Eastern Mennonite was paced by Lele Shumate’s nine points. Ebony Dennis and Carolyn Riley chipped in eight points each.
W&L VS. LC: The Generals own a 14-12 edge in the all-time series and have won each of the past three meetings with the Hornets. LC has not defeated W&L since a 69-63 victory in Lynchburg, Va., on Jan. 14, 2006.
SCOUTING THE HORNETS: Lynchburg begins the week with a 6-4 mark (3-2 ODAC) and has won three out of its last four contests. The Hornets take on Guilford on Tuesday, before making the trip to Lexington. Last week, LC defeated Emory & Henry, 79-72, on Tuesday and Eastern Mennonite, 68-55, on Friday, but fell to Bridgewater, 75-62, on Saturday. On the season, the Hornets are led by sophomore forward Brittany Dahn’s 17.0 points and ODAC-best 10.4 rebounds per game. Sophomore guard Kristina Darby is also recording double-digits in points (12.8) and dishes out 3.2 assists per game.
LAST MEETING WITH LC (2/17/07): The Washington and Lee women’s basketball team concluded the regular season with an 80-64 win over Lynchburg at the Warner Center. The Generals owned a 22-17 advantage with 8:08 to play in the first half, but LC used an 8-0 run to take a 25-22 lead with 5:21 remaining in the opening stanza. W&L fought back with a 7-0 run of its own, leading 29-25 with 2:20 to play in the half and continued to hold on to the lead (35-31) at the break. The Hornets opened the second half with a 10-4 spurt, taking a two-point lead (41-39) with 16:25 left in regulation. However, forward Hayley James nailed a three-pointer on the Generals’ next possession to give W&L the lead for good. James paced the Blue and White with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds), hitting all four of her shots from long range. Forward Kristen Krouchick tallied 19 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while center Jessica Hunsinger registered 17 points, nine rebounds and four blocks. Forward Amanda Kane filled out the Generals’ double-digit scorers with 11 markers. Lynchburg was led by center Caroline Wesley’s 18 points and 10 rebounds. Forward Brittany Dahn also notched a double-double with 12 points and a game-high 13 boards, while guard Amy Terry scored 12 points.
W&L VS. RANDOLPH: These teams will meet for the 29th time on Saturday. The Generals own a 20-8 advantage in the all-time series and have won three-straight contests against the former Woman’s College.
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS: Randolph (1-8, 0-6) has lost seven-straight contests and has yet to win a conference game this season. The WildCats played one game last week, losing to Bridgewater, 67-33, on Wednesday. Randolph will play Randolph-Macon on Tuesday and Roanoke on Friday before it meets up with the Generals. On the season, RC has two players, sophomore forwards Katie Rechnitzer and Lindsay Cross, averaging double-digits in points. Rechnitzer is posting 16.2 ppg, while Cross adds 10.9 markers per outing.
LAST MEETING WITH RC (2/2/07): Center Jessica Hunsinger posted her fourth-straight double-double and became W&L’s all-time leading rebounder as the Generals won their school-record sixth-straight game with a 71-34 win over Randolph-Macon Woman’s College at the Warner Center. Hunsinger racked up 14 points and 13 rebounds to surpass Jessica Mentz ‘02 (973) with 980 career caroms. The Generals closed the first half on an 18-3 run in the final 8:08 to take a 36-15 lead into the break. W&L never led by less than 17 in the second half and cruised to the 37-point victory. The Blue and White shot 41.7 percent from the floor (30-72), while the WildCats shot just 25.0 percent from the field (14-56). The Generals also held a dominating advantage on the boards, out-rebounding R-MWC, 59-28. Hunsinger’s performance paced W&L, while forward Kristen Krouchick recorded 15 points and nine rebounds. Junior guard Emily Wolff added 11 markers. The WildCats were led by forward Katie Rechnitzer, who notched 15 points.
UP NEXT: The Generals have two road games next week, taking on ODAC-leading Randolph-Macon on Tuesday, before traveling to Bridgewater on Saturday.
LAST TIME OUT: Junior guard Bethany Ridenhour drilled a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:26 of the game to lift the Washington and Lee women’s basketball team to a 61-57 come-from-behind victory over Roanoke on Friday at the Bast Center. The Generals trailed by as many 15 points in the first half and did not lead in the contest until Ridenhour drained her second three-pointer in row to give W&L a 59-57 lead with 47 seconds remaining. Roanoke held a 30-18 lead at the break and led by 13 points (55-42) with 6:30 remaining in the contest. However, the Generals held the Maroons to just one field goal and out-scored RC, 19-2, the rest of the way to pull out the comeback win. Freshman guard Allie Long also helped key the comeback with nine points during the game-ending run that was capped off by a pair of free throws by senior forward Amanda Kane with 13 seconds remaining. W&L shot just 22.2 percent from the field in the first half, but recovered to shoot 51.5 percent in the deciding period. The Generals also held a 42-33 advantage on the boards. Long led W&L with 13 points and four assists, while senior forward Kristen Krouchick tallied 11 points and six rebounds. Kane dropped in eight points and collected eight boards, while Ridenhour added eight points as well.
KING OF THE GENERALS: Mandy King (Southern Maine ’98) is in her fifth season as head women’s basketball coach at W&L and has a career record of 53-62 (.461). King is assisted by Kristen McCandless (TCNJ ’03), who is in her third season.
THE COMEBACK KIDS: The Generals have won two out of their last three games, and both of those wins have been in exciting fashion. In the Roanoke game, the Blue and White rallied from a 14-point second-half deficit to post a four-point victory. The win was the largest second-half comeback for the Generals since a similar 14-point deficit against Guilford during the 1998-99 campaign. In that contest, the Generals trailed the Quakers 42-28 at halftime, were down by double-figures until 5:49 was left and did not tie the contest until 1:32 remained. The Generals also posted a second thrilling come-from-behind win this season as they erased a 13-point second-half Bridgewater lead in posting a 54-47 win over the Eagles on Jan. 5.
FREE THROW WOES: The Generals have not been taking advantage of their opportunities from the foul line this season. They are averaging 58.4 percent (108-185) from the line, compared to their opponents’ 70.1 percent shooting (141-201). Also, W&L has hit just 50.0 percent (16-32) of its attempts in the final five minutes and overtime. However, despite the poor shooting this season, the Generals managed to hit 4-of-5 of their foul shots in the final 1:46 of the Roanoke game. Freshman guard Allie Long hit both of her attempts to cut RC’s lead to four points. Long leads the team, shooting 90.9 percent (10-11) from the line, and is the only general averaging over 70 percent.
KEEP ‘EM UNDER 60: Sixty is a magic number for W&L, at least where the defense is concerned. The Generals are 4-2 this season when holding teams to less than 60 points. In addition, W&L is 15-3 in its last 18 games when holding the opponent to less than 60 points.
WELL-ROUNDED GAME: There is a reason senior Kristen Krouchick is listed as a guard slash forward -- she plays both positions and both ends of the floor equally well. In 2006-07, she was first on the squad in points (13.5 ppg), second in rebounds (6.8 rpg), tallied five double-doubles and recorded three 20+-point games. She also scored in double-figures in all but seven games. This season, she is averaging a team-best 10.4 points and is first on the team in rebounding (5.5 rpg). In a 76-66 loss to Alvernia, she tallied her first double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Also, Krouchick tallied a season-high 21 points and eight rebounds in a 62-59 win over Mary Baldwin on Nov. 27. She followed the first scoreless game of career (Bridgewater) with a four-point effort against VWC, marking just the second time in her four years at W&L that she has had back-to-back game of single-digits. However, she recovered from that two-game downswing to post 11 points in the come-from-behind win at Roanoke.
EDITING THE RECORD BOOKS: Despite her recent outings,senior Kristen Krouchick has made quite an impact on the all-time records at W&L. She currently owns 1,155 points, 470 rebounds, 134 steals and 165 assists in her career. Her 1,144 points rank sixth all-time and she needs just 11 more points to move into fifth place. Krouchick’s career shooting percentage (.451, 477-1057) ranks second all-time at W&L.
“HURRIKANE” AMANDA: An athletic and physical player, senior forward Amanda Kane can be a devastating player for opponents to guard as she can score from all areas of the floor -- from the perimeter to the paint. So far this season, Kane is posting a second-best 9.5 ppg and 5.2 rpg. She has scored in double-figures in six games, including a season-high 14 points against Newport News Apprentice. She also hit 2-of-3 foul shots in the final 13 seconds against Roanoke to give the Generals a four-point lead and secure the win.
CASTING A LONG SHADOW: Though a freshman, guard Allie Long has already made a significant impact on the season. Long was an integral part of the Generals’ comeback at Roanoke, scoring nine of her career-high 13 points during the game-deciding 19-2 run. She also leads W&L with 2.7 assists per contests (12th ODAC) and is shooting a team-best 90.9 percent from the foul line (10-11).
TAKING CENTER STAGE: Sophomore center Kaitlyn Kamp showed that she’s ready for the limelight during her second season with the Generals. Kamp tied a career high with 15 points in a 62-59 win over Mary Baldwin on Nov. 28. She shot 7-of-11 from the floor and grabbed eight rebounds in the win. Kamp has also come on strong over the last two games and has averaged 11.5 points and 10.0 rebounds in that span. She played an instrumental role in the Generals’ come-from-behind 54-47 win over Bridgewater on Jan. 5 by totaling a team-best 13 points along with eight rebounds. She followed that up with her second career double-double in a 52-38 loss to Virginia Wesleyan on Jan. 8 with 10 points and a season-high 12 rebounds. This season, Kamp is averaging 5.0 points and 4.6 rebounds per game and she is shooting a team-best 58.5 percent (24-41) from the floor.
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