Chicago, Ill., Feb. 29, 2020 – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team closed out the 2019-20 season with a 76-72 loss at No. 19-ranked University of Chicago Saturday in the Windy City.

Chicago improved to 20-5 and 11-3 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while WashU finished the season with an 14-11 mark and 7-7 in the UAA. 

With the win, Chicago won the outright UAA championship and secured the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Sophomore Samantha Weaver scored a career-high 23 points and nine rebounds, while senior Kristina Schmelter (17 points, 12 rebounds) and freshman Molly Gannon (16 points) also scored in double figures for WashU. 

A 9-0 run by Chicago gave the Maroons a 26-17 lead in the first quarter. WashU shot 53.3 percent (8-15) from the field in the quarter as the Bears trailed 26-20 after the first 10 minutes.

WashU outscored Chicago 13-9 in the second quarter as the Bears trimmed the halftime advantage to 35-33. The Bears limited the Maroons to 2-of-14 shooting in the quarter.

Chicago led 74-65 with 2:12 to play, but the Bears mounted a comeback. Two free-throws by Weaver with 44 seconds left highlighted a 7-0 run and cut the lead to two (74-72). WashU got a stop on defense and had a chance to tie but freshman Sammi Matoush's jumper was off the mark.

Mia Farrell led Chicago with 20 points, while Grace Hynes had 19 points off the bench. Taylor Lake (16) and Miranda Burt (12) also scored in doubles for the Maroons, which hit 10 threes and shot 88.9 percent (16-18) from the foul line.

BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Chicago 51-19, and the Maroons swept the season series … Schmelter finished her career 819 points and 441 rebounds and helped lead the Bears to a 55-26 (.679) record in three seasons … WashU was 2-5 against teams this season.