WAUKESHA, Wis. - The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team dropped the 71-61 decision to No. 23 University of Wisconsin-Stout in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament, hosted by Carroll University, Friday, March 1. With the defeat, WashU ends its 2023-24 campaign with an overall record of 17-9.
First year
Lexy Harris paced WashU's offensive efforts with a team-high 22 points. Harris finished the contest shooting 7-of-8 from the floor and knocking down 8-of-9 free throw attempts. Harris also hauled in six boards for the Bears.
Senior
Jessica Brooks, who finished the season just two points shy of 1,000, ended the game with 14 points. Brooks was credited with a team-high four helpers in the loss.
As a team, WashU found the back of net on 22-of-49 field goal attempts (44.9%), 14-of-17 free throw attempts (82.4%), and 3-of-16 from long range (18.8%).
The Bears held the slight, 38-32, points in the paint advantage. However, the Blue Devils took full advantage of WashU 21 turnovers, scoring a 21-4 points off turnovers clip. Compared to WashU's 21 turnovers, the Blue Devils recorded 14 turnovers in the contest.
In the opening quarter, after a Blue Devil basket, Goodwin connected on a layup to even the score at 2-2. After a Harris defensive board, Goodwin found junior
Brenna Loftus for a bucket as the Bears took the 4-2 advantage, with 7:33 left.
With UW-Stout ahead by a pair, Brooks sunk a long ball to push the Bears ahead by one, 9-8, halfway through the first quarter. Later in the first,
Nailah McBeth connected on a layup to extend WashU's cushion to five, 13-8, with 2:48 remaining in the first stanza.
Harris ended the first quarter scoring with a pair of free throws to give WashU the five-point lead, 15-10, after the first 10 minutes.
In the second quarter, UW-Stout went on a 7-0 run to grab the three-point, 24-21, cushion with 2:34 left until halftime. The Blue Devil defense held the Bears scoreless for nearly five minutes of game action. Goodwin ended the UW-Stout run with a layup to put the score at 24-23, in favor of the Blue Devils.
At the end of the first half, UW-Stout took the three-point, 28-25, lead into the locker room.
After the break, WashU secured the first three points to even the score at 28-all. Harris notched an and-one to tie the score.
With the clock at 6:45, sophomore
Jordan Rich sunk a long ball to once again knot the score. After the three, the score stood at 35-35. Following a UW-Stout free throw, Brooks drained a three-pointer to give the Bears a two-point, 38-36, advantage with 6:17 left in the third.
However, the Blue Devils answered with a four-point run to even the score at 40-40 with 2:49 remaining in the third. With back-and-forth action ensuing, a Harris layup saw the score at 48-46, UW-Stout, to end the third quarter.
In the fourth, the Bears turned in six-point run to erase the deficit and snag the four-point, 52-48 lead. The small run saw points from Goodwin (four) and Harris (two).
After the small WashU run, the Blue Devils manufactured an eight-point run to take the four-point, 58-54, cushion with 4:30 remaining.
Two free throws from first
Sydney Starks cut WashU's deficit to four, 63-59, with 1:13 on the clock.
UW-Stout produced a 5-0 run to grab the nine-point, 68-59, advantage with 28 seconds left.
The Blue Devils hit four free throws down the stretch to ice the game as No. 23 Stout took the 10-point, 71-61, win to advance to tomorrow's regional championship contest.
The Bears will return to the court in November.
