Women’s Basketball Season Ends in ODAC Quarterfinals Against Washington & Lee
Quakers kept it close in the first before loss against nationally ranked Generals
from Reagan Hune, Athletic Communications Graduate Assistant at Guilford College
LEXINGTON, VA – The Guilford College women’s basketball team’s (15-11, 9-8 ODAC) season concluded at the hands of Washington & Lee University (23-3, 15-2 ODAC) in the Quarterfinals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference (ODAC) tournament, 87-54 in Holekamp Gym on Tuesday evening.
The Quakers and Generals met for the 59th time in program history with W&L leading the series 39-21. With this result, it is now the third consecutive loss in an ODAC tournament opener.
A standout for GC was Courtney McMillan (Lexington, N.C.), who scored team-high 20 points, went 9-for-18 from the floor, perfect from the free throw line, had five rebounds, and one steal. McMillan has scored 20 or more points in three of her last four games, including back-to-back 20-point performances in the past two matchups. She also had a season-high in field goals made against W&L as well as a career-high in shot attempts. Zoe Bayer (Les Sables d’Olonne, France) scored seven points with career-high seven rebounds and went 5-for-6 from the charity stripe, matching her career-high in free throws made. Carleigh Perry (Faith, N.C.) finished with six points, on three rebounds, and matched her career-high three blocks against the blue and white.
Statistical leaders for Washington & Lee included Mary Schleusner, Megan Zimmerman, and Quinn McGuinness. Schleusner scored game-high 28 points, going 13-for-23 from the field, snatching 25 rebounds, made four assists, had two swats, and a steal. Zimmerman was up next with ten points, four rebounds, and three assists while teammate McGuiness scored nine, had three boards, an assist, and two steals.
Guilford opened the first quarter with a quick 4-0 lead, thanks to back-to-back layups from Perry, assisted by Briahna Scott (Graham, N.C.) and Bayer. Washington and Lee responded with free throws from Zou Raine and a jumper by Schleusner to tie it at 4-4. Anna Giannopoulou (Athens, Greece) briefly put Guilford back ahead with a 15-footer, but the Generals surged with a 14-6 lead. Guilford fought back with buckets from Skyler Furr (Warrenton, N.C.) and Julianna Walter (Taylorsville, N.C.), trimming the deficit to 14-11 after Walter’s three. Schleusner led the Generals with eight points and multiple rebounds, while Perry and Walter paced the Quakers with early offensive contributions. GC and W&L tied in the first in bench points with ten.
The Generals responded to McMillan’s early basket with a jumper from McGuinness and Schleusner’s tip-in, igniting a 7-3 run to extend their lead to 26-20. Guilford responded with points from Bayer and McMillan, keeping the margin within six. McGuinness and Schleusner continued to lead W&L’s offense, with McGuinness hitting a fastbreak three to push the lead to nine. Despite McMillan getting into her bag with ten points in the quarter alone and a fastbreak layup from Scott, W&L countered with key plays, including Zimmerman’s late three. By halftime, W&L held a 40-29 advantage despite Guilford’s attempts to close the gap through fastbreak opportunities and the Generals’ seven second-chance points.
The home team set the tone early in the third quarter, opening with a layup from none other than Schleusner. Although Scott and Bayer trimmed the margin to nine, the Generals responded with a 12-2 run featuring layups from Schleusner, Sarah Zimmerman, and McGuinness, pushing their lead to 50-35. A bright spot for Guilford was that they forced nine of W&L’s 14 turnovers in this quarter. Eight points were scored by the Quakers off turnovers because of this. W&L closed the quarter on a 9-2 run, with Megan Zimmerman’s layups and Icy Keneah’s free throws helping to secure a 61-41 advantage heading into the fourth.
In the final quarter, W&L advanced their lead due to contributions from Schleusner and Raine that sparked an early 8-2 run, while Cat Pettegrove and Megan Zimmerman added key baskets to push the margin past 30. GC’s brief offense from McMillan, Walter, and Furr was matched by W&L’s relentless scoring. Guilford excelled in the paint with 40 points, was below the season average of 14 total turnovers, 42 rebounds, and a 76.9% free-throw rate. However, GC struggled with shooting (30.6% FG, 0-for-13 3PT), only forcing the opposing team14 total turnovers compared to the average of 20.8, and were outscored in fast breaks (29-8) and bench points (33-13).
The Generals closed with a dominant 87-54 win and will advance to the semifinals where they will play against Ferrum College.
This concluded Guilford’s 2024-2025 season.
#GoQuakes
