SALEM, Va. – Shenandoah University plays for its third-ever ODAC Women's Basketball title Sunday afternoon in a 1 p.m. ODAC Tournament championship contest versus top-seeded Washington & Lee.
 
Sunday's championship tilt is the rubber match in the season series between the Hornets (19-9) and Generals (21-6).
 
SU dealt W&L its first conference loss in a 66-52 victory in Winchester on Jan. 18 and the Generals returned the favor in Lexington eight days ago by winning, 71-48, in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
HISTORY
The championship game is the 21^st lifetime matchup between the two programs with Washington & Lee holding a 13-7 edge in the previous 20 contests. Sunday's game is the third in ODAC Tournament play with SU winning, 63-53, in the 2019 championship and 67-59 in the 2022 semi-finals.
 
Madisen Kimble and Terese Greene both started in that '22 contest with Kimble putting up nine points and seven rebounds in 18 minutes of action.
 
HOW THEY GOT HERE
Shenandoah, as the No. 7 seed, had a home first round game versus No. 10 Eastern Mennonite. The Hornets were 70-45 winners in that game before taking out second-seeded Randolph-Macon, 66-57, in the quarterfinals.
 
SU then qualified for the finals by beating third-seeded Bridgewater, 75-60, in Saturday's second semi-final.
 
Washington & Lee earned the top seed in the tourney and had a bye into Thursday's quarterfinals. The Generals defeated Ferrum, 85-69, in the opening game of the tournament and then blew out No. 5 Randolph, 71-45, in Saturday's first semi-final.
 
SCOUTING SHENANDOAH
Terese Greene, Madisen Kimble, and Shawnise Campbell, who all earned All-ODAC honors earlier this week, continue to lead the program in the 2022 tournament.
 
Kimble had a career-high 32 points along with six rebounds and five assists in the Hornets 75-60 semi-final round victory over Bridgewater.
 
Greene leads SU in scoring at an ODAC co-leading 16.1 points per game with Kimble second at 12.9 and Campbell third at 9.8. Campbell pulls down a team-high 8.3 rebounds per game while Kimble's 3.8 assists per game leads the league and Greene's 2.2 steals per contest is fifth-best.
 
Campbell is also second in the league in shooting percentage.
SCOUTING WASHINGTON & LEE
First-year Mary Schleusner, the league's Rookie and Defensive Player of the Year, averages a double-double with 13.5 points and 11.3 rebounds per contest. She has had 11 double-doubles this season including an 18-point, 17-rebound performance in the loss at Shenandoah on Jan. 18.
 
She also has 79 blocks this year.
 
Hanna Malik is the only other player averaging in double figures at 12.7 per contest.
 
W&L has won six straight heading into the championship and two of its six losses this season came in overtime.
 
COACHES
Shenandoah head coach Melissa Smeltzer-Kraft is 110-119 in her nine seasons as the Hornets head coach and has a 12-6 record in ODAC Tournament play. Both of the program's ODAC titles, in 2019 and 2022, have come under her direction and her 2022 team won a program-record 21 contests.
 
Washington & Lee head coach Christine Clancy is 160-112 in 11 seasons at W&L and 182-118 overall as a collegiate head coach. She is a two-time ODAC Coach of the Year honoree and the Generals were selected to the 2022 NCAA Tournament as a Pool C (at-large) berth.
 
WHAT'S AT STAKE
The championship carries with it the league's automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament. Shenandoah is seeking its third-ever ODAC title, after titles in 2019 and 2022, while W&L would like to add a second title to the one it captured in 2010.
 
The NCAA announces the 2023 tournament field Monday.

HOW TO FOLLOW
Live stats, audio, and video links are all available on the women's basketball schedule page.
 
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