PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The RV Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team wrapped up a four-game, UAA road stretch on Sunday afternoon when it paid a visit to the Steel City to take on Carnegie Mellon. A third quarter surge by the Tartans allowed them to escape the Highmark Center with a 76-70 over the Bears.
Senior Jessica Brooks led all scorers with 24 points and nine rebounds. She finished going 8-for-12 from the free throw line while hitting four, three-pointers. Both sophomores Alyssa Hughes and Lexy Harris each added nine points to the scoreboard.
The Bears were able to go nine-of-18 from beyond the arc, while holding the Tartans to just four made threes. Forcing CMU into 13 turnovers, the Bears were able to turn those into 19 points while the Tartans only scored nine points off the WashU turnovers in the contest.
It was a quick start for the Bears as Brooks hit back-to-back threes in the first minute and half of the contest to give WashU a 6-2 lead. After the Tartans pulled within two at 8:02, Harris started an 11-0 run for the Bears, from 7:17 to 2:30, when Brooks made a pair of free throws that saw WashU lead 17-4.
A three and a free throw pulled CMU back within 11, 19-8, as the teams headed to the second quarter.
Fortunes began the second period in favor of the home team as the Tartans slowly began to chip away at the Bears' lead. Cutting the lead nearly in half on a layup at 8:26, CMU shrunk the lead even more on a made three at 6:17, 21-18.
Junior Jordan Rich made a layup at 5:57 to put the lead back up to five, but a more than four minute scoring draught by WashU saw CMU take a 24-23 lead at 2:14. A jumper by sophomore Nailah McBeth would hit a jumper and first-year Ava Blagojevich made a pair of free throws to put the Bears back ahead by three with exactly one minute left in the half.
The Tartans would tie the score up at 29-29 with six seconds left before fouling sophomore Catherine Goodwin with just one second left to send her to the free throw line, where she made one of two, giving the Bears a 30-29 lead going into halftime.
It took over two and half minutes for the Bears to get on the board in the second half when Brooks hit a three at 7:21 to tie the score up at 33-33. The Tartans then slowly began to build a lead to as many as seven with 1:12 left in the period, 50-43.
A pair of free throws by Harris at 1:03 cut the deficit down to five, but a layup by CMU with 47 seconds left put their lead back up to seven as the teams headed to the fourth quarter.
The Tartans started off the final 10 minutes slowly building their lead up to 12, 66-54, just over four minutes remaining. WashU responded with an 8-0 run, capped by a three from sophomore Alyssa Hughes at 1:04. Harris cut the lead down even further with a jumper at :31 to bring it back to a one-possession game, 71-68.
Three straight points by the Tartans put the home team back up by six, 74-68, with just nine seconds on the clock. Some confusion near the final buzzer saw both teams head to the free throw line with both teams making both as CMU would get the 76-70 win.
WashU returns home next weekend for their final home games of the regular season when Rochester and Emory pay a visit to the Field House. The Bears will take on the Yellowjackets on Friday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. before taking on the Eagles on Sunday, Feb. 23 with a 12 p.m. tip-off. Prior to the contest with Emory, the Bears will honor its two seniors, Brooks and Brenna Loftus, with a special recognition.
