ST. LOUIS – If it isn't the biggest road win that the University of Rochester women's basketball team has ever claimed, it has to be in the top three.
With six players scoring 10 points or more, Rochester rolled past 12th-ranked Washington University-St. Louis, 93-74, at the WU Field House on Sunday afternoon. The win boosts Rochester into a first place tie in the University Athletic Association with Emory University. Both teams are 9-2. Rochester is 17-5 overall and ranked third in the East Region by the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Committee.
Washington suffered its first defeat at the Field House this year (11-1). The Bears defeated Emory on Friday in St. Louis to pull even with Rochester and Emory in the standings at 8-2. Washington sits in third place with an 8-3 UAA mark and an 18-4 overall record.
This is only the second time that Rochester has beaten Washington in St. Louis. The Yellowjackets did it last year, 72-70, for their 17th consecutive victory. It is the first time that Rochester has swept Washington (UR won, 56-48, in the Palestra in mid-January) and the first time the Yellowjackets swept the Chicago-Washington trip. Rochester downed Chicago, 58-37, on Friday night.
Breanna Madrazo produced her second straight career high. She finished with 21 points, including four of six outside the arc. Madrazo had 20 points on Friday night in the victory at Chicago. Ally Zywicki scored 16 points and matched her career high with 10 assists. Katie Weiner scored 11 points and grabbed six rebounds off the bench. Jackie Walker had 12 points and 10 rebouinds. Loren Wagner had 12 points and nine rebounds. Danielle McNabb scored 10 points and added five boards. Paige Aleski scored nine points and hit two of three outside the arc.
Melissa Gilkey led Washington with 24 points, including 13 of 17 from the foul line. Jordan Thompson scored 15 points and hit four three-pointers. Jordan Rettig was the only other Bear in double figures. She had 11 points.
Rochester shot 55.4% from the floor (31 of 56), 57.9% outside the arc (11 of 19), and 71.4% from the line (20 of 28). Washington hit 29.9% from the field (19 of 68), 26.9% outside the arc (seven of 26), and 72.5% from the line (29 of 40).
"Wash U has that incredible will to win, and they never gave up," said Rochester head coach Jim Scheible. "This was easily our best game of the year. They went after us so hard."
The Bears drew within 17-15 on a three-pointer by Rettig with 8:19 left in the first half. Rochester ran off a 10-2 spurt in less than two minutes: McNabb and Walker made layups, followed by a three-pointer from Aleski. After Kristin Anda's layup for Washington (24-17), Zywicki knocked down a three-pointer for a 27-17 lead with 5:42 left in the half. The Yellowjackets closed the period on a 6-0 run over the last 2:24 – four points by Walker – to take a 38-25 lead at halftime.
Early in the second half, Madrazo and Walker hit three-pointers as part of a 9-2 flurry that gave Rochester its largest lead, 53-29, with 15:34 remaining. Another three-pointer from Zywicki kept it at 24, 63-39, with 11:47 left before Washington mounted one of its two serious second half charges.
Thompson hit a trey and Gilkey converted a traditional three-point play. Thompson made one free throw and Katy Biewen sank both ends of a one-and-one. That got Washington within 66-48 with more than nine minutes left.
Rochester was ahead by 20, 81-61, after two free throws by Madrazo (she was seven of nine from the line) with 4:58 on the clock. Biewen made one free throw before Thompson and Gilkey sank three-pointers to pull Washington within 13, 81-68, at the 4:23 mark. Wagner answered with a layup and Madrazo drilled a three-pointer to extend it to 86-68 with 2:23 left. Madrazo made five of six from the foul line down the stretch to seal the victory.
"It's really hard to play at Wash U, so this is a big win," Madrazo said. "(Right from the start) Everyone was feeling it."
Rochester returns to the Palestra next Friday to host Carnegie Mellon and Sunday to host Case Western Reserve. Emory hosts Case on Friday, Carnegie on Sunday. Washington goes to NYU Friday and Brandeis Sunday. On February 23, Rochester visits Emory and Washington hosts Chicago.
Head-to-head, Rochester swept Washington and Washington swept Emory. Rochester lost to Emory in double overtime in the season's first meeting in the Palestra in early January.