SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Playing its first game in nearly two weeks, the No. 15 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball opened its trip to Puerto Rico trip with a 63-45 win over Dickinson on Sunday morning. The win improves the nationally ranked Bears to 8-2 on the season.
This was the first meeting between WashU and the Red Devils.
Sophomore Lexy Harris recorded her fourth double-double of the season with game-highs in both scoring (24 points) and rebounds (14). Graduate Jessica Brooks notched her fifth double-double of the season and third in a row with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Harris and Brooks were two of the three Bears to reach double-figure scoring as junior Nailah McBeth scored 10 points.
WashU led in most statistical categories, including rebounds (40-26), assists (14-5), bench points (12-11), blocks (3-2), fast break points (5-4), points in the paint (30-14), and second chance points (15-3).
The two teams traded baskets to start the contest with McBeth opening the scoring at 8:31and Harris adding a layup at 7:49. A pair of baskets scored before and after Harris' layup by Dickson saw the score tied at 4-4 with 6:18 on the clock. A free throw by senior Brenna Loftus at 5:54 gave the Bears the lead they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
The Red Devils would keep it close the rest of the period, pulling within one at 9-8 at 2:20. Neither team was able to score for the remainder of the first quarter.
Brooks opened the scoring in the second quarter with a three pointer just over 30 seconds in to give the Bears a 12-8 lead. Much like the start of the first quarter, Dickinson answered the first two baskets by WashU with their own matching type, trailing the Bears 14-13 with 7:32 left in the half.
The WashU defense kicked into drive over four-plus minutes, holding the Red Devils scoreless from 7:32 until 3:17. During that time stretch, the Bears' offense went on a 10-0 run, starting with a pull-up jumper by Brooks and capped by a three-pointer from Hughes.
After a Dickinson layup, three-straight made free throws by Harris gave WashU its biggest lead of the first half, 27-15, with just under two minutes to the break. Harris added one more free throw with eight seconds left on the clock keeping the Bears' lead at double-digits, 28-18, as the teams headed into the locker rooms.
The second half opened with five more points for Harris off a pair of baskets, giving WashU a 14-point lead with just over a minute gone in the third quarter. The teams then went on to trade points, both on the floor and at the free-throw line for three minutes. A three from Brooks at 4:42 gave the Bears their biggest lead at the time at 18 with the score at 43-25.
Six-straight points by the Red Devils brought the lead back down to 12 with 3:14 left in the period before a jumper by first-year Hope Drake pushed it back up to 14. Two late free throws by Dickinson saw WashU lead 45-33 as the teams headed to the fourth.
Dickinson pulled within 10 on the first basket of the final period, 45-35, but that was the closest it would get to the Bears' lead. With WashU leading by 11 at 8:33, Harris started a 7-0 for the Bears as they saw their lead bloom to 19 points when sophomore Catherine Goodwin hit a jumper with 5:13 on the clock.
The next six baskets saw the return of the point-for-point that was seen earlier in the contest with WashU maintaining its largest lead on a jumper by first-year Tara Murphy at 1:22. The Bears settled in the rest of the contest for the 63-45 win over Dickinson.
WashU wraps up action in Puerto Rico tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 30 when they take on Bridgewater State. The all-Bears match up tips off at 10:30 a.m. Atlantic Time which is 8:30 a.m. Central Time. Dickinson defeated Bridgewater St. on Saturday, 71-52 in the first game of the weekend.
