W&L Women's Basketball ODAC Tournament Notes

Chrissy Burghardt, Sr., F, Rockaway, N.J., 11.0 ppg, 8.8 rpg

Ansley Miller, Jr., G, Athens, Ga., 11.0 ppg, 32.5 3PT%

Jessica Morton, Jr., G, Midlothian, Va., 5.6 ppg, 2.3 apg

Carter Thomas, Fr., G, Atlanta, Ga., 3.4 ppg, 1.8 spg

... AND THE FIRST ONES OF THE BENCH
Alison Kudlacik, Fr., G, Manalapan, N.J., 6.8 ppg, 32.0 3PT%

Megan Babst, Fr., C, Pittsburgh, Pa., 4.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 1.0 bpg

Sarah Schmidt, Fr., F, Topeka, Kan., 2.8 ppg

Leslie Fischbeck, Fr,, C, Pittsburgh, Pa., 2.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg

THE LAST TIME WE MET...
These two ODAC rivals last met on Jan. 26 at the Warner Center. In that game, Ansley Miller iced two free throws with 2.5 seconds remaining in the game to give Washington and Lee a 71-70 victory over Virginia Wesleyan at the Warner Center. The win was W&LUs second in 10 meetings with VWC and first-ever win against the Blue Marlins at the Warner Center. W&L jumped out to a quick six-point lead, 11-5 with 12:34 remaining in the first half. The Blue Marlins then went on a run that put them on top by a 35-26 margin with 1:02 left in the first half. W&L then closed the gap to 35-30 going into half time. Virginia Wesleyan stretched the lead to 10 at 41-31 with 16:34 left in the game before W&L went on a 13-4 run to cut the lead to one, (45-44) with 13:02 left. The Blue Marlins then brought the lead back to nine, 56-47 with 9:27 left. W&L then fought back to take their first lead of the game, 65-64 with 2:40 to go. The Generals took another lead with 22 seconds left, when Miller hit two free throws to give W&L a 69-68 lead. With 11 seconds to go, Virginia Wesleyan's freshman guard Jo-Lyn Bender hit a lay-up to put VWC up by one. Miller was then fouled with 2.5 seconds remaining and hit her free throws to give the Generals the one-point victory. W&L was led by Miller, who scored 20 points and was 9-of-11 from the free throw line. Jessica Mentz scored 16 points, shooting 6-of-7 from the field. Chrissy Burghardt scored 15 points on 4-of-5 field goal shooting and added nine rebounds. The Blue Marlins were led by junior guard Nancy Mattox, who scored 17 points, 15 of which were scored in the second half. Sophomore forward Erin Duckett scored 12 points.

Three and a half weeks earlier these teams met for the first time this season. In that game, Bridget Smith scored a game-high 24 points to help lead Virginia Wesleyan to an 85-75 win over W&L. Trailing 48-38 at the break, W&L staged a furious comeback to cut the Marlins lead to justfour points on several occasions in the second half, but W&L couldn't get over the hump as VWC earned the 10-point win. Jessica Mentz led four Generals in double-figures with 17 points. Chrissy Burghardt tallied a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds, Jessica Morton scored 13 points and Alison Kudlacik scored 12 points.

W&L TOURNAMENT HISTORY
Washington and Lee is participating in its third consecutive ODAC Tournament, but has yet to win its first game. On Feb. 27, 1997, the Generals entered the tournament as the sixth seed, but lost to that year's runner up Guilford, 66-52. On Feb. 26 of last year, W&L entered the tournament as the eighth seed and were quickly exited by top-seeded Randolph-Macon by a 78-49 count.

GENERAL-MARLIN HISTORY
Washington and Lee and Virginia Wesleyan have met 10 times over the last five years, with the Blue Marlins taking eight of the contests. This will be the schools' first meeting in the tournament. The Generals won in Norfolk, 64-49 on Jan. 4 1997, when Tonia Dean set what was then a record 26 points in leading the Generals to the victory. W&L did not win again until the thrilling 71-70 victory on Jan. 26 of this year at the Warner Center.

NEW YEAR'S RESOLUTION
After its first seven games, W&L posted a 1-6 overall record and 0-3 record in the ODAC. A team that features seven freshman as major role players seemed to be destined for a "learning" season. However, when the clock struck midnight on Jan. 1, it all turned around for the Generals. Since Jan. 7, W&L has posted a staggering 11-6 record each of those victories coming within the conference.

The most exciting stretch of the season came in the ten-day period between Jan. 23 and Feb. 2. Starting on a rainy and gloomy Saturday in Greensboro, N.C., the Generals trailed Guilford by 18 points in the first half and by 14 in the intermission. The second half was a different story. Freshman guard Alison Kudlacik scored 21 points in leading the Generals back and another freshman guard, Berry Lowden scored the winning basket with 28 seconds left as the Generals won, 63-61. It was their first-ever victory against the Quakers and began the magic carpet ride.

Three days (Jan. 26) later against Virginia Wesleyan, junior guard Ansley Miller calmly hit two free throws to give the Generals an exciting 71-70 victory in front of the Warner Center home crowd. It was only W&L's second victory ever against the Blue Marlins.

On Jan. 28, freshman center Jessica Mentz put on the most impressive offensive showcase in W&L history, as she scored 30 points and grabbed nine rebounds in an 82-54 throttling of Lynchburg.

On the Saturday before the Super Bowl (Jan. 30), the Generals trailed at Emory and Henry by seven points late in the game, but the Generals outscored the Wasps 14-6 in the final six minutes, and Mentz scored the winning basket with 13 seconds remaining to give the Generals another thrilling win, 56-55.

Just when everyone thought that the luck had to run out at some time, it kept rolling on. On Feb. 2, the Generals let a 15-point lead slip away as Randolph-Macon Woman's College took a 54-53 lead with just five seconds remaining. However junior guard Ansley Miller layed in a shot with just 1.1 seconds left to give the Generals their fifth straight amazing victory.

The incredible 10-day run ended for the Generals on Feb. 6 with an 83-70 loss to Guilford, but they rebounded in trademark exciting fashion. Down 51-46 to Bridgewater with eight minutes left, the Generals went on an incredible 20-6 run to win the game, 66-57. The win was W&L's first over Bridgewater in 10 tries and gave them five wins in the last six games.

After losses to Emory and Henry and Roanoke, the Generals ended their season proudly with victories at Hollins and Eastern Mennonite. In all the Generals had the same amount of losses (6) in their final 17 (11-6) games as they did in their first seven (1-6).

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER
With a team made up of one senior, two juniors, three sophomores, and an incredible six freshmen, head coach Terri Dadio Campbell has coached W&L to a 12-12 record and a program best 13 ODAC wins. Earlier this season, she notched her 50th victory and holds a 55-87 record as the only head coach in the six-year history of the program.

MAGNIFICENT MENTZ
Although the Generals received valuable contributions from each of their six freshmen, the contributions of one sticks out with a sore thumb. Center Jessica Mentz leads the Generals in scoring (15.7 ppg), field goal percentage (58.8 percent) and minutes played (33.0 mpg). Mentz was named the ODAC Player of the Week for the week of Jan. 25. That week, she scored 63 points on 23-of-35 shooting and grabbed 20 rebounds in three General victories. A list of her tremendous amount of other significant accomplishments can be found on the left side of the previous page.

SENIOR LEADERSHIP
W&L's leading rebounder this season is also its only senior, Chrissy Burghardt. This co-captain not only became W&L's all-time leading scorer this season, but also became the first 1,000-point scorer in school history and currently has 1,063 points for her career. She also is program's all-time leader in assists with 202. Burghardt is only the second player in program history to play as a consistent starter for four years. A list of other accomplishments is located on the left of this page.

GEORGIA ON HER MIND
W&L's leading scorer in 1996-97 and 1997-98 was Athens, Georgia's Ansley Miller. Although she was not W&L's leading scorer this season, she has contributed in many other ways. This season, she is W&LUs third leading scorer with 10.8 ppg and leads the team in three-point field goals percentage with 32.5. In fact, she is the school's all-time leading three-point shooter, with 74 three-ball connections. However, her biggest shots this year have come from the one and two-point variety. On Jan. 26, she hit two free throws with 2.5 ticks left to lift W&L over Virginia Wesleyan, 71-70. A week later, on Feb. 2, against Randolph-Macon Woman's College, she hit a lay-up with 1.1 seconds left to give the Generals a 55-54 victory.

CO-CAPTAIN, MY CAPTAIN
Junior point guard and co-captain Jessica Morton has come off an injury plagued 1997-98 to be the W&L's "floor general" in 1998-99. Morton leads the team in assists this season, with 56 and ranks fifth on the team in scoring with 5.6 points per game. She came up big in W&L's 66-57 victory win over Bridgewater, with 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.

GEORGIA'S ON HER MIND TOO
Like Miller, Carter Thomas is also form Georgia (the state capital and Olympic city of Atlanta, in fact). Like Mentz, she has been a consistent starter in her first season. Unlike any other General, Thomas has 42 steals to her credit, leading the team. Her signature game came in a 71-41 defeat of Eastern Mennonite when she netted eight points, dished nine assists (one away from the school record), and had six steals.

MANALAPAN MARAUDER
When W&L needs to look for three-point shooter away from Ansley Miller, they look to freshman guard and Manalapan, N.J., native Alison Kudlacik. This season, Kudlacik has connected on 32 percent of her three-point shots and has hit 24 for the season. She triggered the W&L comeback 63-61 win at Guilford with a career high 21 points on 7-of-11 shooting (including 3 trifectas).

BABST FROM THE PAST
The freshman impact that Mentz has made offensively, freshman center Megan Babst has made defensively. She leads the team with 1.0 blocked shot per game and is among the ODAC leaders. Against Eastern Mennonite of Feb. 17, she blocked four shots, including a three-point attempt with less than five seconds remaining and the Generals up by three, to preserve a 66-61 win in Harrisonburg.

ROCK CHALK JAYHAWK
Freshman guard Sarah Schmidt is yet another valuable first-year player that comes off of head coach Terri Dadio Campbell's bench. A native of Topeka, Kan., Schmidt is averaging 2.8 points per game. She scored a career high nine points on 4-of-7 shooting in W&LUs big 71-70 win over Virginia Wesleyan on Jan. 26.

TWO-SPORT ATHLETE
In addition to being a member of W&L's 1998 ODAC Champion volleyball team, freshman center Leslie Fischbeck has been an important member of the W&L basketball team. Fischbeck is averaging 2.1 points off the bench and forms a "three-headed monster" when she clogs up the middle with Mentz and Babst. Fischbeck set career highs in points (10) and rebounds (9) in W&L's win at Hollins on Feb. 15.

THE ADVENTURES OF LEAH SAWYER
Sophomore center Leah Sawyer is currently averaging 2.8 points per game off the bench for the Generals and adds to the tremendous depth of coach Dadio Campbell's bench. Sawyer scored six points and grabbed nine rebounds in a Dec. 5 loss to Skidmore.

W&L PICKS THE RIGHT BERRY
Freshman guard Berry Loweden scored possibly the biggest shot in the GeneralsU season when she completed an 18-point comeback in W&L's 63-61 win at Guilford with a lay-up giving the Generals the lead for good with 28 seconds left on the clock. She also hit a key three pointer in another comeback, this time a 56-55 win at Emory and Henry on Jan. 30.

11 - Number of ODAC victories tallied by the Generals this season, their highest amount in five years of conference plays. It also marks the first winning conference record in program history.

5 - W&LUs seed in this seasonUs ODAC Tournament, its highest ever.

0 - Number of times that the Generals had beaten Bridgewater or Guilford before defeating both schools this season.

+4.1 - W&L's rebounding margin average this season. In whole numbers, the Generals are outrebounding their opponents 965-867.

4 - Number of games that W&L has won by two points or less, all within a 10-day span (Jan. 23- Feb. 2).

5 - The General win streak that lasted over that same span, its longest such streak ever.

6 - Amount of W&L wins away from the Warner Center this season.

1,538 - Amount of points scored by the Generals thus far, yet another program record.

W&L's freshman center Jessica Mentz has put up some numbers that have never been seen before at W&L. Below is a list of her accomplishments.

377 - Number of points scored this season by Mentz, an all-time single-season record at W&L. She is only 23 points away from becoming the first General to score 400 in a season.

58.8 - Mentz's shooting percentage, which if stands, will be another W&L single season record and ranks her among the ODAC's elite.

1 - Amount of games since Jan. 2 in which Mentz has not scored in double figures.

3 - Number of games that Mentz has shot below .500 all season.

5.7 - Number of points that Mentz has raised her points per game average by since Jan. 2.

12 - Amount of games in which Mentz has led the Generals in scoring this season. She has led W&L in each of the last eight contests.

1 - Mentz gained her first ODAC Player of the Week honor for the week of Jan. 25, a week in which she scored 67 points in three W&L wins.

W&L's all-time leading scorer Chrissy Burghardt is finishing off an outstanding career. Below is a list of her numbers at W&L.

1,063 - Amount of points scored by Burghardt in her career, becoming the all-time leading scorer and first 1,000-point scorer in school history.

211 - Burghardt's total amount of rebounds this season. She leads the Generals in the category and is among the ODAC leaders.

8 - Amount of double-doubles in rebounds and points that Burghardt has notched this season.

15 - Amount of games that Burghardt has led the Generals in rebounding this season, 10 of which were in double figures.

48 - Burghardt has started 48 of the 49 games that W&L has played over the past two seasons. She has started all 24 games this season.

21 - Burghardt's season high in points scored in 70-64 loss to Emory and Henry on Feb. 11 at the Warner Center, Burghardt's final home game.

QUOTING THE GENERALS "Washington and LeeUs young womenUs basketball team is growing up quickly." - Vic Dorr, Jr., Richmond Times-Dispatch "Washington and Lee is holding its own in the Old Dominion Athletic Conference." - Mark Berman, Roanoke Times "Listen, this is a Hollywood script. Even though it really happened, IUm telling you." - John Hughes, Lexington News-Gazette "Everything was in slow motion. It was such an adrenaline rush." Freshman guard Berry Lowden after scoring the winning basket in W&L's 63-61 win at Guilford on Jan. 23.

"Now we have the ability to play in the last minute and make something happen. This is a great turnaround. They feel they can go anywhere and beat anybody in the last minute." - head coach Terri Dadio Campbell after the Generals won five games in a row.

"It was probably the biggest and best win in the history of the program." - head coach Terri Dadio Campbell referring to the 66-57 victory over Bridgewater on Feb. 9.