ST. LOUIS, Mo. – Facing their first top 10 ranked opponent of the season, the No. 11 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team dropped a heart-breaker to No. 8 Illinois Wesleyan in the championship game of the Midwest Challenge on Sunday afternoon at the Field House.
Trailing by six at halftime, the Titans outscored the Bears in the second half to complete the comeback.
WashU would take the lead early and push it to as many as six on a jumper by sophomore Sidney Rogers with 5:53 left in the first quarter, 11-5. IWU responded with a 9-2 run to take the lead 14-13 with 2:31 left in the period.
A free throw and a layup by sophomore Lexy Harris and a jumper by graduate Jessica Brooks closed out the first quarter with the Bears retaking the lead 18-14 heading into the second quarter.
WashU scored the first six points of the second, 10 minutes to jump ahead 24-14 on a jumper by junior Nailah McBeth with 8:01 left on the clock.
IWU began to slowly chip away at the Bears' lead, cutting it down to six with 31 seconds left in the first half, 30-24, before the teams headed into the locker rooms.
The third quarter began with the Titans scoring the first six points in the first three minutes to tie the score at 30-30 with 7:01 on the clock. A three pointer by sophomore Alyssa Hughes at 6:36 saw the Bears go out in front once again and a pair of free throws by Harris saw the Bears extend their lead to five at 6:02.
However, IWU would tie the score twice before taking their third lead of the game 38-37 at the five-minute mark of the period. A jumper by junior Jordan Rich at 4:00 gave the Bears the lead again, 39-38, but a Titan free throw 15 seconds later saw the score tied at 39-39.
A three pointer by IWU with 3:12 left gave them the lead for good, extending their lead to as many as six in the period before taking a 49-46 difference into the fourth quarter.
The Titans continued to push and led by as many as 10 to start the final period before a jumper by Hughes at 6:38 cut the lead down to eight, 56-48. A three pointer by Rogers and a jumper in the pain by Brooks cut the lead all the way down to three with 4:30 left in the game.
IWU responded with a 6-0 run to push their lead back up to nearly double-digits, 62-53. WashU got as close as six on a jumper by first-year Hope Drake with 15 seconds left before the Titans got the 67-59 win.
Brooks led the Bears with her second double-double of the season, scoring a team-high 18 points and 12 rebounds. Harris also reached double-figures with 11 points while adding six rebounds.
WashU returns to the road on Saturday, Dec. 7 when they travel north to Wisconsin-Platteville for a 1 p.m. tip-off with the Pioneers.
