GREENVILLE, Ill. – After a low-scoring first half, the No. 15 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball picked up where they left off before fall final exams with a 69-47 win on the road over Greenville on Tuesday evening.
The first quarter saw the Bears score 19 while holding the Panthers to just nine. It was a defensive battle though in the second quarter with both teams only scoring eight points, each, as WashU held a 27-17 point lead at the break.
Sophomore Alyssa Hughes matched her career-high in scoring with 20 points to lead both teams. Graduate Jessica Brooks notched her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds. 10 different Bears scored in the victory.
A slow start saw the Panthers grab a 5-4 lead with 7:27 on the clock in the first quarter. A free throw by Brooks at 6:52 tied the score before a layup from Hughes at 5:31 regained the lead for WashU. Two more free throws by Brooks and a layup from sophomore Catherine Goodwin extended the lead to 11-5 at 4:26.
Greenville finally score again after the Bears defense held them without any additions to the scoreboard for over three and a half minutes. A Panther layup with just under three minutes on the clock was the last points for the home team in the period with WashU adding six more to push their lead to double digits heading into the second quarter.
Neither team score for the first 4:12 of the period before a layup from junior Nailah McBeth added to the WashU side of the scoreboard. The Bears would see their advantage go as high as 14 before settling in for the 10-point lead when the teams headed into the locker room.
The Panthers came out hot from the intermission, scoring the first seven points of the second half, cutting the lead down to just three at 7:24. A three by Hughes at 6:29 broke the home team's run putting the lead back up to six. Back-to-Back threes by Hughes pushed the Bears' lead back up to nine at 4:52 left in the third quarter.
Less than two minutes later, the Panthers cut the lead back down to three at 3:10. A jumper by McBeth and a "and one" play by Hughes put the lead back up to eight with 1:16 left in the period. Two free throws by sophomore Sidney Rogers with six seconds left on the clock brought the WashU lead back up to double-digits, 46-35.
A quick start to the fourth saw the Bears' run continue with a jumper and free throw by McBeth, a free throw by Goodwin, and another three by Hughes gave WashU its biggest lead of the game to that point at 18. Greenville finally stopped the Bears run, but only for a moment. WashU answer the Panthers basket with an 8-0 run, extending the lead up to 24 on a free throw by sophomore Lexy Harris.
The teams would trade points over the final four minutes with a three-point play by first-year Emilee Travnicek with 30 seconds left to close out the scoring in the 69-47 win.
WashU will have a short break before traveling to San Juan, Puerto Rico for a pair of contests before New Years. The Bears start off with a game against Dickinson on Sunday, Dec. 29. Game time is scheduled for 10:30 a.m. ET. They followed up the next day with a contest on Monday, Dec. 30 against Bridgewater State, also at 10:30 a.m.
