SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – In a Battle of the Bears, No. 15 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team closed out 2024 and their Puerto Rico trip with a 64-50 win over Bridgewater State on Monday morning in San Juan. WashU improved to 9-2 with the win.
Sophomores Lexy Harris and Alyssa Hughes led all scorers in the contest with 12. Harris added seven rebounds while Hughes went 4-for-8 from beyond the arc.
As a team, WashU led for over 98% of the game while leading in most offensive and defensive categories including: three-pointers (8-6), rebounds (25-19), assists (11-8), blocks (1-0), steals (11-10), points off turnovers (23-15), points in the paint (28-10), and second chance points (9-5).
Sophomore Sidney Rogers opened the scoring just 17 seconds into the contest giving WashU its first lead of the game. BSU responded with a three to take their first and only lead of the game at 9:30. Hughes would give WashU the lead back for good just 18 seconds later with a three pointer.
After a pair of BSU free throws, WashU went on a 13-0 run, stretching from 3:41 until :10 left in the period. The run saw three-pointers from junior Jordan Rich, first-year Ava Blagojevich, and Hughes. Rich also hit a pair of free throws while junior Nailah McBeth closed out the scoring with a layup. The scoreboard saw WashU take a 20-7 lead into the second quarter.
BSU cut the lead back down to 10 to start the second quarter with a three. Harris pushed the lead back up to 12 at 9:17 before another BSU three cut the nationally ranked Bears' lead back to single digits, 22-13, at 8:34.
WashU got a back-to-back jumper from Blagojevich and Hughes to push the lead back up to 15 while holding Bridgewater State scoreless for four minutes. BSU went on to cut the lead back down to 11 on a three pointer with 4:09 left the half but graduate Jessica Brooks made a layup at 3:52 and Blagojevich hit a three with five seconds left on the clock to give WashU the 34-20 lead going into the locker room.
With the WashU Bears leading 36-23, Rogers and Hughes hit back-to-back threes off assists from Brooks at 8:28 and 8:02 in the third quarter to extend the lead to 42-23. Two more baskets by McBeth and Rogers saw the advantage bloom to 23 with just three minutes gone into the second half.
The rest of the quarter saw both teams play even with the other as a pair of free throws by Brooks and a layup from sophomore Catherine Goodwin closed out scoring in the period as WashU led by 22 heading into the fourth quarter, 55-33.
Scoring was at a premium for the WashU Bears in the final four minutes of the period. Up to that point, WashU was able to maintain their 20+ point lead. After a pair of free throws by Harris at 4:41 and 4:10, BSU went on a 7-0 to cut the lead down to just 15 with 50 seconds left in the game. First-Year Emilee Travnicek stopped the run with a layup with19 seconds left before a last second three by BSU saw WashU finish with the 64-50 win.
WashU completed both 2024 and its non-conference portion of its schedule with the win. The Bears are off until Saturday, Jan. 11 when they kick off UAA action hosting Chicago at the Field House. Tip-off with the Maroons is scheduled for 3 p.m.
