Brooklyn, N.Y. – The No. 22 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team fell short to No. 6 NYU, 63-60, on Sunday afternoon. The Bears fall out of sole possession of the UAA and now sit at 16-6 overall with a 9-2 conference mark.
 
Ultimately, a strong third quarter in which the Violets outscored WashU 20-8 doomed the Bears.
 
Junior Jessica Brooks was a bright spot in the loss, scoring 27 points to go with six rebounds and five assists. Senior Maya Arnott finished with a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The Bears took a 6-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game in which all six points were scored by Arnott. WashU then went on to go up 13-4 following a 3-pointer and two layups from Brooks. The Bears held a 15-8 lead following the first quarter.
 
A layup from Arnott and a 3-pointer from Brooks gave the Bears a double-digit, 20-10 lead with 8:26 on the clock in the second quarter and a jumper from sophomore Brenna Loftus extended it to a 12-point game.
 
A free throw from NYU's Natalie Bruns brought the deficit back to single-digits and the Violets cut it to six with 1:15 remaining. A jumper from Brooks with three seconds on the clock sent the Bears into halftime leading 33-25.
 
Loftus opened the second half with a layup to give WashU a 35-25 lead before NYU went on an 8-0 run to cut it to a 35-33 WashU lead. The Violets tied it up at 37 apiece and took a one-point lead with 2:52 on the clock following a Bruns' layup.
 
A jumper from Caroline Peper at the buzzer gave NYU a 45-41 edge with one quarter to go.
 
A three-point, and-one play from Brooks tied things up at 47 with 8:07 on the clock, but the Violets quickly built it back up to a three-point game. A free throw from Belle Pellecchia extended the NYU lead to four before first-year Nailah McBeth put in a layup to cut it down to two.
 
Four-straight from the Violets made it a 57-51 game with just over two minutes left on the clock. After exchanging baskets, a 3-pointer from sophomore Sabrina DelBello with seven seconds cut the gap to three points, but the Bears could not make anything else happen as the clock ticked down, falling 63-60.
 
WashU and the Violets were even on the boards with 31 apiece but NYU shot 25-for-52 (48.1%) while the Bears went 22-for-53 (41.5%). WashU had a better showing from distance, shooting 5-for-14 (35.7%) while NYU went 3-for-12 (25%).
 
WashU returns home next week for a Friday evening game against Case Western Reserve University and a Sunday afternoon game (senior day) against Carnegie Mellon.