Waltham, Mass. – The No. 22 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team defeated Brandeis 65-49 on Friday evening. The Bears are now 16-5 overall with a 9-1 mark in UAA play and sit in first place in the conference standings.
Senior
Maya Arnott led the charge with 18 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals while junior
Jessica Brooks netted 11 points with six rebounds, six assists and six steals. First-year
Jordan Rich also had 11 points.
Tied 2-2 in the opening minutes, the Bears went on a 11-0 run to take a 13-2 lead midway through the first quarter.
Arnott started the run with back-to-back layups, followed by a 3-pointer from Rich. Arnott and Rich each put in another layup to close out the run and give WashU the double-digit lead.
Brandeis went on a 7-0 run to close the gap to just three points, 15-12 with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter.
The Bears opened the second quarter with four-straight points from Brooks and Arnott, going up 22-14. The teams exchanged baskets with Brandeis bringing the deficit down to as few as four points. A layup from Brooks ended the quarter and sent WashU into halftime with a 27-21 lead.
WashU had a big third quarter, outscoring Brandeis 23-13.
With 4:22 on the clock, up 40-29, the Bears closed out the quarter on a 12-4 run.
Rich started the run with back-to-back layups, followed by a layup from first-year
Nailah McBeth. Brooks and Arnott each put in a layup, and following a Brandeis 3-pointer, Arnott added another bucket to give the Bears a 50-34 edge at the end of the third quarter.
WashU opened the final quarter with a 3-pointer from senior
Naomi Jackson, followed by a steal and a layup from Arnott. A pair of free throws extended the Bears' lead to 57-34 with 7:09 on the clock.
As the clock ticked down, the closest the Judges would get was 16 points.
The Bears edged Brandeis 39-35 on the boards and forced 19 Judges' turnovers. WashU held Brandeis to 18-for-53 (34%) shooting and just 6-for-20 (30%) from 3-point range.
WashU is back in action on Sunday with a 2 p.m. ET game at No. 6 NYU.