TERRE HAUTE, Ind. - The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team evened the score with just one second remaining to send the game to overtime, but the Titans of Illinois Wesleyan University prevailed, 87-80, as IWU won the Midwest Challenge, Sunday, November 26. As a result of the setback, WashU's record stands at 2-3, while IWU's record jumped to 5-2.
Sophomore
Nailah McBeth turned in a career day with 20 points. McBeth grabbed her first double-double of the young season by adding 10 boards.
As a result of her outstanding performance, McBeth was named to the Midwest Challenge All-Tournament team.
Continuing her sensational freshman campaign, first-year
Lexy Harris added 19 points and five rebounds.
First-year
Catherine Goodwin topped a double-digit point total for the first time in her collegiate career by totaling 11 points.
For the second straight contest, WashU shot 50% from the field (32 for 64). The Bears sunk five threes for a 22.7% mark from beyond the arc. WashU converted on 11 of its 13 free throw attempts (84.6%).
WashU found success in the paint, generating 50 points in the paint, compared to IWU's 34. However, Illinois Wesleyan saw a big points off turnovers advantage, 13, as IWU finished with 28 points off turnovers, compared to WashU's 15.
The Bears started the contest on a 9-0 run that stretched nearly three minutes. Goodwin (five points), McBeth (two points), and junior
Brenna Loftus (two points) got things rolling in the early goings. A Goodwin layup with 4:53 left in the first period opened up a 15-7 lead for the Bears.
However, the Titans responded with a 15-point run to erase the early deficit and snag the seven-point, 22-15, advantage. IWU held WashU scoreless for over three minutes in the run. A Rogers jumper ended the drought and put the score at 22-17, in favor of the Titans, after the opening period.
After a barrage of baskets from both programs in the start of the second, a Rogers layup trimmed WashU's deficit to a pair, 28-26, with 8:20 remaining in the half. With back-and-forth play ensuing, Harris converted a layup as IWU held the slim, two-point, 35-33, lead.
The Titans then nailed two threes to stake the eight-point, 41-33, advantage with 4:04 remaining. However, Rogers responded with a three of her own to cut IWU's lead to three.
Illinois Wesleyan held the seven-point, 45-38, cushion after the first 20 minutes of play.
After the break, IWU went on an eight-point run to push its advantage to 13, 53-40. With the score at 55-46, in favor of the Titans, with 2:38 remaining, the Bears scored the final 11 points in the quarter to grab the two-point, 57-55, lead. In the run, first-year
Sydney Starks nailed a three to even the score at 55-55.
Two free throws from DelBello gave WashU the 57-55 lead to end the third quarter.
In the fourth, neither side held more than a two-point lead until the 4:19 mark. Goodwin collected a layup to push the Bears ahead by three, 69-66. The Bears then took the six-point, 73-67, advantage with 2:25 remaining.
However, the Titans then hit three straight buckets to grab the one-point, 74-73, lead with 1:41 to play.
With the score tied at 74-74, Illinois Wesleyan took the two-point, 76-74 advantage with four seconds left. After a WashU timeout, Rogers drilled the game-tying jumper with just one second left in regulation to send the game to extra time tied at 76-76.
In the overtime session, IWU outscored WashU 11-4 to win the Midwest Challenge championship by a final score of 87-80.
The Bears will host the annual McWilliams Classic, Friday-Saturday, December 1-2. WashU will battle Hanover College, Friday at 7 p.m., and will conclude the classic with a contest against University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Saturday at 5 p.m. The McWilliams Classic tournament central page can be found
here.
