St. Louis, Mo. – The (RV) Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team defeated No. 18 Rochester 64-59 on Friday evening in the Field House. The Bears are now 14-5 overall and sit in first place in the UAA with a 7-1 record.
 
Senior Naomi Jackson led all scorers with a career-high 20 points on 7-for-16 shooting including six 3-pointers. Junior Jessica Brooks netted 19 points and grabbed five rebounds. First-year Nailah McBeth scored seven points and pulled down six rebounds while first-year Jordan Rich had seven points, five assists and three rebounds.
 
The Bears got off to a slow start with Rochester taking a quick 6-0 lead on back-to-back 3-pointers from Alexis Sestric and Callie McCulley. The Yellowjackets held a 10-2 advantage with just under six minutes left in the first quarter.
 
Down 13-4 with 5:16 on the clock, WashU outscored Rochester 11-6 to finish out the first quarter down four, 19-15. The Bears cut the deficit to two points, 17-15, with 2:50 left before the Yellowjackets' Hailey Bruneau hit a jumper.
 
Rochester opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run, going up 28-15 and maintained a double-digit lead the entire second quarter, heading into halftime up 33-21.
 
The majority of the third quarter was a double-digit deficit for the Bears until the final two minutes. A jumper from McBeth brought it to nine points and a 3-pointer from Jackson with 51 seconds remaining made it a 47-41 game heading into the fourth quarter.
 
Brooks opened the fourth quarter with a layup to close the gap to four points and the Bears kept the game close until a 3-pointer from Jackson tied things up at 53 apiece with 3:53 on the clock.
 
Back-to-back 3's from Jackson tipped WashU into the lead with 2:44 left, putting the Bears up 59-55. Brooks netted three free throws and Karisa Grandison added two to secure the 64-59 win.
 
WashU forced 17 Rochester turnovers and edged the Yellowjackets 33-32 on the boards.
 
The Bears are back at home again on Sunday with a 2 p.m. game against Emory.