St. Louis, Mo. – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team opened the 2022-23 season on Sunday with a convincing 78-65 victory at the Field House over Dubuque. 
 
WashU earns its first season-opening win since the 2017-18 year to improve to 1-0, while Dubuque drops to 2-1 with the loss. 
 
Senior Sammi Matoush matched her career-high in points (22) on 7-12 shooting, including a career-best 6-9 shooting effort from three-point territory. The Hillsboro, Ill. native also tallied seven rebounds and dished out three assists. 
 
Senior Maya Arnott also had a big performance, collecting 18 points on 6-7 shooting as she also shot 6-9 from the foul line. Arnott also posted seven rebounds and dished out four assists. 
 
The Bears also got scoring production from Jessica Brooks, who scored nine points and led WU with a team-high five assists. 
 
Senior Karisa Grandison and first-year Jordan Rich each finished with seven points apiece, while Grandison led the Bears from the foul line, shooting 7-8 for the afternoon. 
 
In addition, first-year Nailah McBeth notched six points and seven boards in the victory. All nine Bears who played in Sunday's contest reached the scoring column. 
 
For the day, the Bears shot an efficient 53 percent from the field and knocked down eight three-point field goals. 
 
Defensively, WashU forced 14 Dubuque turnovers and won the rebounding margin 34-21. Second chance points were also in favor of the Bears, as they finished with 13 in total and collected 21 points off turnovers. 
 
In the first quarter, the Bears were on fire and could not miss, connecting on their first nine field goals to build a dominant double-digit lead at 25-7. 
 
Matoush had the hot hand and knocked down four straight threes in the opening minutes and the Bears pulled ahead 16-0 in the first four minutes of the contest. 
 
WU maintained a comfortable 28-13 lead after the first period and looked to continue to extend its lead in the second period. 
 
After keeping the margin at 15 at 32-17, the Spartans compiled an 11-0 run to reduce the deficit down to just four at 32-28. 
 
However, WashU would close out the quarter on a 15-4 run, using hard-nosed defense and great ball movement on offense to find quality shot attempts to go into halftime with a 47-32 edge. 
 
Early in the third period, WashU continued to pile it on, extending its lead out to 53-34 in the first three minutes of play, finding Arnott down low multiple times. 
 
The Bears continued to hold a double-digit advantage and posted a 61-48 lead going into the fourth quarter. 
 
Dubuque battled its way back in the fourth quarter, scoring a majority of its points inside the paint. 
 
The Spartans reduced WU's lead down to 71-62 with four minutes to play looking to spark a comeback, but the Bears would not let the margin slip any further, as they increased their lead back to double figures at 13 and held DU to just three points to close out the day. 
 
The Bears will return to the Field House on Friday, Nov. 18-19 for the McWilliams Classic. WashU will face Ohio Wesleyan on Friday evening at 7 p.m. with Saturday's consolation and championship rounds to follow at 5 & 7 p.m.