ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Another hot start for the No.18 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team proved to be enough to claim the title at the 2024 McWilliams Classic with a 66-47 win over Wisconsin Lutheran on Saturday evening at the Field House.
The win moves the Bears to 4-0 on the season after claiming the Hyatt Place Tournament title a week ago.
WashU had opened the tournament by breaking several records in a 119-49 win over Lyon (Ark.) before getting the win over the Warriors in the championship game.
Senior Jessica Brooks led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Lexy Harris picked up her third double-double in four games this season with 12 points and 12 rebounds. For their efforts they were both named to the All-Tournament Team with Brooks being named the Jacqueline Bickel Schapp Tournament MVP.
WashU never trailed in the game against WLC scoring the first four points before a pair of free throws by the Warriors cut the lead to two. It did not take long for the Bears to take control of the game, scoring the next 13 points, capped by a layup from Brooks at 4:40 left in the first quarter.
The points slowed down for the second half of the first quarter with WLC trimming down the lead to 11 on a layup with 24 seconds left in the period, 20-9.
The Bears opened the second quarter scoring 10 of the first 15 points with just over four minutes of game played in the period. Neither team was able to find a way to add to the scoreboard over the next three and a half minutes before a pair of made free throws from sophomore Sidney Rogers at 3:15 broke the drought.
WashU extended their lead to 20 by the end of the half with a free throw from Brooks, 38-18.
The third quarter was a littler slower for the Bears as the Warriors would nearly trade point-for-point throughout the 10 minutes. WLC pulled within 16 with 7:07 left on the clock before WashU pushed it back up to 20 with just under three minutes remaining.
A jumper with 32 seconds left in the quarter by the Warriors would cut the lead back down to 18, 51-33. The third quarter was the only 10 minutes in which WLC outscored the Bears.
The small amount of momentum that the Warriors finished the third quarter with showed up a few times throughout the final 10 minutes, including pulling WLC within 14 points with 2:37 left in the game.
The Bears went on to score the final five points with a jumper by Rogers at 1:30 and a three pointer from sophomore Alyssa Hughes with 28 seconds left.
More McWilliams Classic team records were broken by the Bears after their win. WashU scored 185 points in their two games, breaking the previous record by just one point, set by the Bears in 2002. WashU also set the field goals made record for the tournament by just one made field goal with 77. The previous record was 76 set by the Bears in 2001.
The final record broken this year was the team assists record. WashU finished their two games with 52 assists, besting the previous mark of 50 set by the Bears in 2001.
WashU will be back in the Field House next weekend hosting the Midwest Challenge on Saturday, Nov. 30 and Sunday, Dec. 1. The Bears open with a contest against Rose-Hulman on Saturday at 6 p.m. The other opening round matchup features #24 DePauw and #10 Illinois Wesleyan at 4 p.m.
The consolation game will take place at 2 p.m. on Sunday with the championship game being played at 4 p.m.
