ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A big scoring first quarter saw the RV Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball get back on track with an 86-76 win over Rochester on Friday night in New York. The win improves the Bears to 11-4 overall and 2-2 in the UAA.
Sophomore Lexy Harris led all scorers with 21 points. She added 11 rebounds for her fifth double-double of the season. Graduate Jessica Brooks also reached the 20-point mark while adding five rebounds.
Sophomore Catherine Goodwin reached double-figures with 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
WashU led the Yellowjackets in several categories including rebounding, 38-23. The margin accounted for the Bears having 11 second chance points to just four for UR. The Bears also got the ball in low and made the most of their opportunities with a 46-16 margin in points in the paint.
UR scored the first basket of the game just 16 seconds into the contest for their first and only lead. WashU would claim the lead on a layup from junior Nailah McBeth at 8:42, 4-2. Both teams would go on the offensive in the first quarter with WashU leading 18-11 at the 5:09 mark.
The scoring did not stop there as the Bears would slowly extend their lead up to double-digits on a last second three-pointer from first-year Ava Blagojevich as the buzzer sounded, giving the visitors the 39-27 advantage.
The scoring significantly slowed down in the second quarter with the Yellowjackets closing the gap, outscoring WashU 14-11 in the period. However, the Bears still maintained a 50-41 lead into the break at halftime.
WashU would more than reverse the scoring of the previous period, increasing their lead up to 71-54. Brooks opened the scoring with a three, pushing the lead back up to double-digits before UR was able to get back within single digits just once, 55-46, with 8:08 left in the third.
The Bears slowly would extend their lead up to their 16-point advantage heading into the final 10 minutes of the game.
The fourth quarter saw the WashU push their lead up to 18 before the Yellowjackets would go on a scoring run and get the Bears' lead down to just seven with 4:50 remaining. That is when WashU responded with a run of their own, a 7-0 stretch, started by three from Brooks at 4:27 and capped by a layup from McBeth at 2:13.
The back-and-forth continued as UR got back to a seven-point deficit but was with only 36 seconds left. A pair of free throws by sophomore Alyssa Hughes and one from Brooks closed out the scoring as WashU picked up its second conference win of the season, 86-76.
WashU is back on the court on Sunday, Jan. 26 when they wrap up the weekend with a visit to Emory. Tip-off with the Eagles is scheduled for 12 p.m. E.T.
