Neither Washington and Lee coach Angie Kelly nor Hayfield coach Rudy Coffield left the gym particularly happy after their teams’ contest Thursday night in Arlington. Coffield wasn’t happy with the way the Hawks played for much of the game, but at least his team delivered when it mattered.
After blowing a double-digit halftime lead the Hawks were able to execute down the stretch and seal a hard-earned 42-35 road victory over the Generals. It was a bitter defeat for Kelly’s team, which battled hard but remained winless in Conference 6 play.
“We simply didn’t execute down the stretch enough to win the game,” Kelly said. “We have a young team but at this time of year we’re not supposed to be young anymore.”
Her team raced to a 5-0 lead early, but simply stopped scoring the rest of the first half and trailed 21-11 at the intermission. The Hawks weren’t particularly sharp on offense themselves, but on defense they started to figure out the Generals’ ball movement and force turnovers. They also were generally able to limit the home team to one shot per possession, keeping them off the offensive glass.
Coffield wasn’t happy then, but at least his team had a ten-point lead. Things got even more uncomfortable when Washington and Lee made things tight in the third quarter. Hayfield’s offense looked completely out-of-sorts as the Hawks scored only four points in the frame. Then in the fourth quarter W&L junior guard Ava Singh found sophomore guard Sydney Rood for a bucket. Junior forward Eleanor Doolittle added a score a short time later to tie the game at 27.
The game was tied at 31 when Hayfield went on a 6-0 run sparked by the strong play of junior forward Victoria Kirby. The Generals still didn’t quit, though. Doolittle was huge for the home team, scoring four straight points to cut the lead to 37-35 with just under a minute left. That’s when things went south for Kelly’s team and Hayfield’s seniors got it done.
Washington and Lee started fouling, making the mistake of putting Hayfield leading scorer Taylor King on the line repeatedly. King had not had a great game prior, even getting benched for a stretch in the first half for her play. The talented point guard came through in the clutch, though, making most of her free throws late. The one she did miss was scooped up on a huge offensive rebound by fellow senior Lensa Asefa. The Generals couldn’t score again and their fate was sealed.
Junior guard Machaela Simmons led the way for Hayfield (7-5, 12-5) with 12 points. Fellow junior Victoria Kirby was huge on the glass (11 rebounds) and contributed 11 points on offense as well. King had 10 points with her five free throws made proving to be crucial.
The Generals (0-12, 4-16) wouldn’t have had a chance without the stellar play of Doolittle. She was really the only consistent scorer for Washington and Lee on the night, and just as importantly battled the bigger, stronger Hawks on the boards hard. Rood added nine points and Singh seven.
–Chris Jollay
all statistics are unofficial
| GENERALS | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| DOOLITTLE | 5-8 | 4-6 | 15 | 8 | 1 | |
| SINGH | 2-7 | 2-2 | 7 | 2 | 3 | |
| ROOD | 2-12 | 4-5 | 9 | 5 | 1 | |
| ROBINSON | 0-4 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | |
| WILLIAMS | 2-4 | 0-0 | 4 | 5 | 0 | |
| Srinivasan | 0-2 | 0-0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | |
| Mosley | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 11-37 | 10-13 | 35 | 26 | 7 | |
| HAWKS | FG | FT | TP | RB | AST | |
| RHEAMS | 1-10 | 1-2 | 3 | 8 | 0 | |
| SIMMONS | 6-12 | 0-1 | 12 | 0 | 1 | |
| ASEFA | 2-9 | 0-2 | 4 | 6 | 1 | |
| KING | 2-9 | 5-6 | 10 | 0 | 0 | |
| KIRBY | 4-12 | 3-6 | 11 | 11 | 1 | |
| Ross | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Sherrill | 1-1 | 0-0 | 2 | 3 | 0 | |
| TOTALS | 16-54 | 9-17 | 42 | 30 | 3 | |