With their win over Ferrum in the First Round of the ODAC Tournament, the Randolph women's basketball team will play in the Quarterfinals on Friday. Eighth seeded Randolph takes on first seed Washington and Lee at the Salem Civic Center at 1:00 p.m.
How They Got Here: Randolph posted an overall record of 15-10 and an 8-10 mark in ODAC play in the regular season. The WildCats defeated Ferrum 53-42 on Tuesday night to advance to the quarterfinals. The Generals finished the regular season with an overall record of 23-2, which included a 17-1 mark in the ODAC. W&L's 23 wins this season are already a program single-season record, edging out the 2022-23 team's mark of 22 victories, and the team has also already secured the highest winning percentage in a season in program history. Additionally, the Generals' 17-1 record in conference play broke the team record for ODAC wins.
The Series: The two teams will be meeting for the 62nd time overall. The Generals lead 46-15. The two teams met twice in the regular season. In the first meeting on January 24, W&L won 76-56. In the rematch in Lynchburg just over a week ago, the Generals defeated the WildCats 74-65. This is the second straight year the two schools will be playing each other in the ODAC Tournament. The WildCats and Generals met in the ODAC semifinals last season where W&L won 71-45 on its way to the ODAC title.
Last Time: When the two schools last played each other eight days ago, the Generals jumped ahead 20-9 in the first quarter. The WildCats recovered from the early deficit to challenge the Generals but W&L came out on top in the end with a 74-65 victory. Cameron O'Neil scored a career-high 18 points and made a career-best six three-point baskets.
In the ODAC Tournament: Randolph is making its 21st ODAC Tournament appearance. Last year's 65-59 win over Guilford in the quarterfinals advanced the WildCats to the semifinal round for the first time in program history. The WildCats qualified for eight straight tournaments from 1984 to 1991 but did not earn another berth until 2013. The Generals have qualified for the tournament every year since the 2003-04 season. W&L has made three appearances in the ODAC Championship Game (2010, 2019, and 2023) having won the title in 2010 and in 2023.
The WildCats: Randolph had two selections to the All-Conference Team in Kylie Stark (2nd Team) and Jessica Jennings (3rd Team). Stark started all 26 games for Randolph this season. She is averaging 13.3 points per game to lead the WildCats and ranks sixth in the ODAC. Stark leads the ODAC in free throw percentage at 92.7% which is also first in all of Division III. Her 64 assists match her career-high. Jennings is just behind Stark averaging 13.2 points which ranks seventh in the ODAC. She started 25 games for Randolph this season and had six games scoring 20+ points. She has a team-high 66 steals which leads the ODAC and had seven games with four or more steals. Jennings' 83 assists are fifth in the conference and she had 12 games with four or more assists. Abbie Baker is the WildCat leader in rebounds with 136.
The Generals: Washington and Lee has the highest scoring offense in the ODAC averaging a program-record 77.8 points per game. The Generals have also averaged 51.4 rebounds per game. Mary Schleusner was named the Player and Defensive Player of the Year along with being named to the First Team. Hannah Malik was also named to the First Team and the ODAC/Virginia Farm Bureau Insurance Scholar-Athlete. Schleusner leads the ODAC scoring (22.4), rebounding (15.0) and block (3.1) averages. Malik has been one of the top shooters in the conference this season as she leads in both total three-point field goals (71) and threes made per game (2.8). Malik also adds the fifth-best scoring average (14.1) in the ODAC this year.
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