PITTSBURGH, Pa. – With her first basket of the night, junior
Lexy Harris scored her 1,000th career point as the No. 13 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team dropped a heartbreaker on the road to Carnegie Mellon, 64-61, in Pittsburgh.
Harris finished the night with her third double-double of the season, tying a career-high with 37 points and setting a new career-high in rebounds with 21.
A close game throughout, the Tartans took an early four-point lead on back-to-back threes, 6-2, to start the first quarter. WashU responded with a 6-0 run to take the lead by two on a layup from junior
Catherine Goodwin at 6:24.
A traditional three-point play by senior
Jordan Rich at 5:38 with a basket and a made free throw saw the Bears push their lead to three, 11-8. After CMU tied the game two more times in the first quarter, a jumper by Harris with 1:49 left in the period gave WashU a 15-13 lead going into the second quarter.
A three by junior
Sydney Starks with 8:00 left in the half once again gave the Bears a three-point advantage, but a 5-0 run by the Tartans saw the home team regain the lead for the first time since early in the first period. However, the CMU lead didn't last long as Rich hit a three-pointer with just under five minutes on the clock to retake the lead, and another three by Starks once again pushed the lead up to four.
A layup from Harris with 37 seconds left in the half saw the Bears grab their biggest lead in the first half at five, 32-27, as the teams then headed into the locker rooms.
Just 21 seconds into the third quarter, a layup from junior
Alyssa Hughes gave WashU their biggest lead of the night, 34-27. The Tartans responded with a 10-2 run over the next three and a half minutes to take a 37-36 lead at 6:02. A three by Aleena Dinker for CMU at 4:52 gave the home team a two-point lead, which they would keep going into the fourth quarter as the teams traded baskets late.
Trailing by three, Harris spun and hit a layup with 1:16 on the clock to cut the Bears' deficit down to just one going into the final 10 minutes.
WashU regained the lead on another jumper by Harris with 8:45 left in the contest, 50-49. The Bears extended the lead to as many as five on a free throw by Harris with 2:20 left in the game, 61-56. The Tartans then used a stingy defense that caused four turnovers while their offense went on an 8-0 run over the final two minutes to escape with the 64-61 win over WashU.
CMU used the long ball and took advantage of turnovers to grab the win. The Bears did lead in second-chance points (16-10) and points in the paint (42-22).
WashU will wrap up the weekend with a just over two-hour ride to Cleveland for a contest on Sunday, Jan. 18 at Case Western Reserve. Tip-off with the Spartans is at a special 11 a.m. ET.
-------
Elevating scholar-champions requires resources beyond the institutional budget. Through the W Club, generous alumni, parents, and friends provide unrestricted support that is essential to the extraordinary WashU student-athlete experience—and the ongoing growth and development of the department. Annual support for Athletics allows the Bears to consistently rise to national levels of competition and ensures that our student-athletes enjoy exceptional opportunities as they train, compete, and lead. To make a gift to the Annual Fund for Athletics, please visit our secure online giving form or contact the Athletics Advancement Office at athletics@wustl.edu.
