CHICAGO, Ill. – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team wrapped up their regular season on Saturday with a road game at Chicago. The Maroons were able to split the season series after claiming a 65-55 win over the Bears. WashU won the first match up of the season back on Jan. 11 with a 72-45 win at the Field House.
Three Bears reached double-figures, led by sophomore Lexy Harris' 17 points and seven rebounds. Classmate Sidney Rogers scored 15 points for WashU while junior Nailah McBeth tallied 10 on the afternoon.
Graduate Jessica Brooks had the game-high nine rebounds while scoring four points.
The Bears were dominate inside outscoring Chicago in the paint 34-20.
The first quarter saw both teams not allowing the other to put themselves too far ahead of the other. A 5-0 run by WashU midway through the period saw the Bears take a 9-6 lead on a layup from Harris at 3:37. The scoring run by WashU was answered by the Maroons with a 5-1 run of their own as they led 11-10 going into the second quarter.
Chicago would extend their lead to 17-10 by 7:29 left in the first half. The Maroons saw their first double-digit lead at 4:15 on the clock before the Bears chipped away and brought their deficit down to just five 29-24 on an "and one" play by McBeth with 55 seconds left.
A quick jumper and a three by the Maroons before the buzzer allowed them to put their lead back to 10 as the teams headed to the locker room at halftime.
The third quarter saw both teams go back and forth with each other with Chicago holding an 11-point lead 43-32 with 3:26 left in the period. A 9-0 run by WashU ensued, started by a layup from Rogers at 2:57 and was capped by a jumper from the sophomore at 1:23, as the Bears trailed just two, 43-41 going into the fourth quarter.
Despite seeing their lead go up to eight early in the final 10 minutes, Chicago saw WashU bring it back to within two on her own "and one" play at 4:18, 54-52.
Trailing by four on a free throw from McBeth at 2:55 and again on a layup from Rogers with just 36 seconds left, the Bears were forced to foul and hope for misses by the Maroons and to race down the court and make a basket. However, Chicago made all six free throw attempts in the final 35 seconds while holding the Bears scoreless to grab the 65-55 win.
WashU will have to wait and see if their names are called on Monday, March 3 during the NCAA selection show at 1:30 pm CT. Fans can watch the selection show here.
