ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Junior Jordan Rich hit a layup just 25 seconds into the No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team's opening contest of the Midwest Challenge on Saturday evening and the Bears never looked back. WashU outscored Rose-Hulman by at least 10 points in every quarter en route to a 105-54 point win.
With the Bears scoring 105 points it marked the first time since the 2018-19 season that WashU has scored at least 100+ points twice in a season.
First-year Hope Drake played just 15 minutes off the bench but outscored everyone with 19 points. She went 6-for-7 from the floor with a perfect 5-for-5 from beyond the arc and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.
Three other Bears reached double figures as well. Rich and sophomores Sidney Rogers and Alyssa Hughes each scored 13 points against the Fightin' Engineers. Graduate Jessica Brooks nearly had a double-double with eight points and eight rebounds, leading both teams in rebounding.
The 14 three-pointers by the Bears was just two shy of the team record set against Brandeis on Feb. 9, 2018.
WashU never trailed after Rich's layup to start the game. The closest they would get would a 15-14 lead for the Bears at 4:08 left in the first quarter. However, WashU would score 14 of the final 18 points in the quarter to lead 29-18 after the first 10 minutes of action.
It did not get any easier for RHIT in the second quarter with the Bears continuing to stretch their lead by outscoring the Fightin' Engineers by 12 in the period.
Early in the quarter WashU pushed their advantage up 16 before a three pointer by RHIT pulled them within 11 at 4:50 remaining in the half. The Bears would keep the guests off the scoreboard for the rest of the half while extending their lead by 12 more points, taking a 51-28 spread into the break.
The third quarter picked back up for Rose-Hulman, scoring 15 points in the period. However, the Bears also stepped up from their second quarter performance with 25 points to start the second half.
The Fightin' Engineers kept even through nearly the first six minutes of the third quarter before WashU used a tip-in from Drake with 15 seconds left in the period to lead by 33.
It did not take long into the fourth quarter for the Bears to make substitutions as WashU slowly pushed their lead higher and higher. A jumper by first-year Cecilia O'Grady with 1:24 left saw the Bears hit the century mark with a 100-52 lead. O'Grady grabbed a defensive rebound with 29 seconds left before the ball was passed back where she hit a layup with 18 seconds remaining to close out scoring in the contest.
The Bears led in several categories against RHIT including points off turnovers (24-14), 2nd chance points (14-4), bench points (56-18), points in the paint (50-30), and fast break points (20-10).
With the win, WashU will take on No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan in the championship game of the Midwest Classic on Sunday, Dec. 1 at 4 p.m. The Titans picked up a tight 65-59 win over RV DePauw in the earlier game.
The consolation game will be between RHIT and DePauw at 2 p.m. before the championship.
