Defense Keys No. 14 Washington U. Women’s Basketball to Win at Brandeis
BOX SCORE
Waltham, Mass., Feb. 17, 2013 - The No. 14-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women’s basketball team forced 23 turnovers by Brandeis University which led to 24 points for the Bears as Washington U. earned a 62-57 win over the Judges in University Athletic Association (UAA) action Sunday afternoon at Red Auerbach Arena.
After Washington U. held a one-point lead (26-25) at halftime, the teams traded leads four times before Washington U. took a 42-38 lead on a layup by sophomore guard Maddy Scheppers with 11:42 left in the game. The Judges cut the deficit to 42-40 on their next possession. The Bears answered with a 9-2 run over the next 6:15, including seven points by senior forward Kristin Anda, to build a 51-42 lead with 5:33 remaining. During that run, Washington U.’s defense forced Brandeis to commit three turnovers and held the Judges without a field goal.
Brandeis made its next five field goals, while limiting the Bears to one free throw, to tie the game at 54-54 with 2:17 on the clock. On the Bears’ next possession, Scheppers drilled a three-pointer along the baseline to put Washington U. back in the lead, 57-54. The Judges made one of two free throws to make it a two-point game. Washington U. grabbed back-to-back offensive rebounds on its next possession, before calling a full timeout with 1:03 left.
After the timeout, sophomore forward Melissa Gilkey drew a foul and made both free throws to push the lead to four points with 51.9 seconds left. Brandeis again cut it to two on a layup by Hannah Cain then called timeout with 42.5 seconds left. After the Bears ran the shot clock down to under 10 seconds, a three-pointer by senior guard Nishi Tavernier bounced around the rim and down to seal the 62-57 win for Washington U.
In the first half, Washington U. built a 16-9 lead on a three-point play by Anda with 13:49 left. The Bears forced Brandeis into seven turnovers in the first six minutes of the game. A second-chance basket by Gilkey put the Bears ahead 18-11 with 11:32 to play. Washington U. was held without a field goal over the next 8:49 as Brandeis went on a 10-4 run to cut the Bears’ lead to 22-21. After a 30-second timeout by Washington U. with 3:18 left, sophomore guard Alyssa Johanson hit a jumper at the free-throw line to put the Bears ahead 24-21. The Judges scored the next four points to take their first lead of the game (25-24) with 1:31 remaining, but a second-chance basket by Gilkey gave Washington U. the 26-25 lead at halftime.
Washington U. shot 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the field and 14-of-18 at the free-throw line in the game. The Bears also finished 4-of-12 from three-point range, including 3-of-7 in the second half. Brandeis shot 50 percent (25-of-50) from the field and 5-of-6 from the foul line. Washington U. finished with a 39-30 rebounding advantage, and outscored the Judges 24-14 on points off turnovers.
Gilkey led the Bears with a game-high 20 points, six rebounds, one block and a career-high four steals. With the blocked shot, Gilkey moved into a tie for ninth on Washington U.’s all-time career blocks list with 60. Scheppers added 14 points and a team-high seven rebounds. Anda scored a season-high 13 points and pulled down six rebounds.
Washington U. improved to 19-5 overall and 9-4 in the UAA with the win, while Brandeis dropped to 9-15 overall and 3-10 in conference play. The Bears close the regular season by hosting the University of Chicago (7-17, 3-10 UAA) at 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23, at the WU Field House. Prior to the game Washington U. will honor Anda and Tavernier during Senior Day.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Brandeis, 47-3 … The Bears have outrebounded 21 of their 24 opponents this season … It was the seventh time Gilkey has scored 20 or more points this season, and her 22nd double-digit scoring game of the season.