BROOKLYN, N.Y. --- The Washington and Lee women's basketball team fell by a score of 71-61 against No. 7 New York University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on Friday night.
The Generals complete their season at 20-7 overall, setting the program record for single-season win percentage (.741). The Violets advance to the second round and improve to 23-1 overall.
NYU scored the game's first nine points, but the Generals answered with a 10-2 run to pull back within one point with 3:37 left in the period. After the Violets went on a 9-2 run, W&L countered with a 9-2 run of its own to stay behind by a point. NYU then scored four points before the Generals turned a five-point deficit into a five-point lead with 4:01 remaining in the second quarter.
The Violets rebounded with an 11-3 run to regain a three-point advantage with just over a minute left in the half, before going into the break with a one-point lead. Sophomore guard Hanna Malik (Raleigh, N.C./Athens Drive) led the way in the first half for the Generals as she scored 10 points.
NYU had a strong third quarter that saw a 22-8 score over W&L to build up a 15-point lead. The Violets started the frame on a 13-2 run and ended on a 9-2 spurt following a pair of W&L buckets. The Generals outscored NYU by a 15-10 margin in the fourth, but were unable to pull closer than nine points. That nine-point margin came on the heels of another 10-0 run that ended with an NYU free throw with 16 seconds left.
Senior guard Megan Horn (Basking Ridge, N.J./The Pingry School) totaled a team-high 14 points, and she added nine rebounds and two assists. Malik finished with 12 points, including a three-pointer which tied her for the program's single-season record of 75 set by Meg Ingram '12 in 2008-09. Junior forward Kathryn Vandiver (Charlotte, N.C./Charlotte Latin School) tallied a 10-point, 11-rebound double-double, and she blocked one shot.
For NYU, junior guard Erica Miller notched a game-high 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting from the floor, including 4-of-10 from long range. Sophomore forward Natalie Bruns scored 13 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked four shots, and first-year guard Mary Kate Fahey scored 11 points. First-year guard Belle Pellecchia rounded out with double-digit scorers with 10 points, while junior forward Jenny Walker matched Bruns with four blocks.
Both sides finished with similar shooting percentages in the game, with NYU posting 37 percent (27-73) to W&L's 35.7 percent (25-70). The Violets held a nine-point advantage from long range and a three-point edge at the foul line, while the Generals pulled down five more rebounds than NYU (49-44).
W&L outscored the Violets, 15-13, off turnovers, 38-24 in the paint and 14-12 on second-chance points, while NYU finished with a 22-12 edge on the fastbreak.
--- This release is courtesy of the Washington and Lee University athletic communications department. ---
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