The University of Mary Washington women's basketball team erased a late deficit to force overtime, but fell at Washington & Lee University, 67-64, on Saturday afternoon in Lexington, Va. The Eagles drop to 4-5 on the season.
The Eagles fired the first salvo, as junior Emily Thompson connected for a three pointer for the first points of the game, at 7:08 left in the first. A pair of Generals baskets sandwiched by an Erika Carter layup gave UMW a 5-4 advantage with 5:38 on the clock. After the Generals gained the lead, a pair of Jordan Pamlanye free throws swung the favor back to the Eagles, 7-6, with 4:19 remaining. The lead changed hands twice more before a Meghan Comer basket with 13 seconds left gave UMW a 10-8 edge after one quarter.
In the second, the game remained tight. A Thompson three pointer upped UMW's advantage to five, but the Generals scored two of the next three baskets to cut the margin to 15-12 with 7:21 remaining. The teams traded free throws before Pamlanye scored a basket to extend the advantage to 18-13 with 5:28 left. W&L scored seven of the next nine points to knot the score at 20-20, and regained the lead at 22-20 with 2:51 left. An Emily Shively three pointer regained the UMW lead at 23-22, and the teams traded baskets and free throws down the stretch before intermission, with the Eagles ahead, 30-27.
The third quarter proved to be a stalemate, with each side scoring 14 points. There were four lead changes and a pair of ties before UMW built a game-high six-point lead at 42-36 with 3:02 left in the quarter on a Tory Martin basket. The Generals scored five straight to trim the deficit to 42-41, but a Pamlanye layup stemmed the tide, as the Eagles carried that lead to the fourth quarter.
Three points to open the fourth for Washington & Lee again tied the score at 44-44, but again Pamlanye kept the Eagles going, as her layup with 7:46 remaining regained the lead. A layup and three pointer for the home team resulted in a 49-46 General lead, but Pamlanye's jumper cut the margin right back to one with 6:46 on the clock. A pair of Martin baskets traded scores with the Generals, but a three pointer for W&L with 3:47 left gave them a 58-52 lead. From there, the Eagle defense wouldn't allow another point in regulation, as Pamlanye and Meghan Comer scored baskets and Pamlanye and Thompson scored free throws to knot the score at 58-58 through regulation.
After W&L scored the first six points of overtime, Pamlanye connected on six straight free throws to tie the score at 64-64 with 1:05 left, but the Generals answered with a three pointer with 37 seconds left that proved to be the game winner.
The Eagles shot a sterling 50% from the floor (22-44), making 3-8 three point tries and 17-24 free throws, but fell victim to 32 turnovers on the day. Washington & Lee shot 36.5% (23-63), and made 7-25 three point tries and 14-20 free throw attempts. UMW held a 35-34 rebounding edge.
Pamlanye led all scorers with 24 points on 7-9 shooting from the field and a 10-12 effort from the free throw line, and tied for the team lead with six rebounds. Martin added 10 points on 4-5 shooting from the field.
The Eagles will be back in action on Tuesday when they face Edgewood College in San Juan, Puerto Rico at 2:00 p.m.