Chicago, Ill., January 5, 2013 – Sophomore forward Melissa Gilkey scored 18 of her game-high 22 points in the first half to lead the No. 3 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 96-67 victory at the University of the Chicago in the University Athletic Association (UAA) opener for both teams Saturday in the Windy City.

Gilkey, who has led the Bears in scoring in eight of 12 games played, was 8-of-12 from the field and hit all three of her three-point field goal attempts. She also had nine rebounds in the win. Junior center Jordan Rettig added 10 points and eight boards for Washington U., who shot 50.7 percent (36-71) from the field and hit 9-of-17 from three-point range. The Bears entered the UAA schedule averaging a conference-best 75.6 points per game.

Washington U. jumped out to an early 10-2 lead relying on its defense, limiting Chicago to 1-of-7 from the field in the opening three minutes of play. Seven-straight points by the Bears pushed the advantage to 19-5, and then back-to-back three-pointers from freshman guard Jordan Thompson and junior guard Lucy Montgomery made it 25-7 before a Chicago timeout. Washington U. started the contest 9-of-15 from the field and hit its first two shots from beyond the three-point arc.

Gilkey took over following the timeout scoring 10 of the next 15 points for the Bears, including her third and fourth three-pointer of the season, to push the advantage to 40-16. She finished the first half with 18 points and eight rebounds.

Washington U. took a 54-30 lead to the locker room, shooting 52.5 percent (21-40) from the field and hitting 5-of-8 from three-point range. The Bears outrebounded Chicago 25-12, turning 11 offensive rebounds into a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points.

The Bears outscored Chicago 42-37 in the second half, and shot 48.4 percent (15-31) from the field. Freshman forward Katie Worley led the Bears with nine points on 4-of-5 shooting in the second half of play.

Christiane Murray (13 points), Claire Devaney (12 points), Ellie Greiner (12 points) and Julie Muguira (11 points) all scored in double figures for Chicago, which dropped its record 3-8, and 0-1 in UAA play.

Washington U. outrebounded Chicago 48-25 for the game, and improved to 11-0 this season when outrebounding their opponents. The Bears are +16.1 in rebounding margin, tops in NCAA Division III.

Washington University (11-1, 1-0 UAA) continues conference play with a pair of road games next weekend at Emory University Friday, Jan. 11, and at the University of Rochester Sunday, Jan. 13.

Bear Notebook: Washington U. improved to 20-6 all-time in UAA openers … The Bears improved to 43-13 all-time against Chicago and snapped a four-game regular season losing streak to the Maroons … Chicago suffered its first conference defeat since a 71-60 loss to Washington U. on Feb. 27, 2010 … The 54 points scored in the first half was second most this season in a half, while the 96 points scored for the game was a season high.