St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 12, 2016 – Sophomore guard Natalie Orr scored a game-high 23 points, including 18 in the first half, to lead the No. 10-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 78-59 win over Case Western Reserve University Friday night in University Athletic Association (UAA) action.
WashU improved to 17-4 overall and 8-2 in the UAA to move into sole possession of first place in the conference standings. Case dropped to 7-14 and 2-8 in the conference with the loss. The Bears finish their home schedule by hosting Carnegie Mellon University at 2 p.m. Sunday. Prior to the game, WashU will honor its Class of 2016 for Senior Day – Katybeth Biewen, Tori Knollmeyer, Amanda Martinez, Paige Naig, Jordan Thompson, Liz Yucknut and manager Nicole McAmis, along with graduate student Alexandra Keane.
WashU jumped out to a 12-4 lead with 5:43 to play in the first quarter behind eight points on 3-of-3 shooting by Orr. After a basket by the Spartans, the Bears scored six straight points, including four by junior Jenn Dynis, to extend the lead to 18-6. WashU finished the quarter shooting 55.6 percent from the field (10-18) to take a 22-13 into the second quarter.
CWRU cut the lead to eight (24-16) with a three-pointer early in the second quarter, but junior Zoe Vernon answered with a three. Martinez scored the next eight points for the Bears and a putback by freshman Steph Botkin gave WashU a 37-21 lead with 3:35 left in the half. Orr scored the final eight points of the half for the Bears as WashU took a 45-28 lead into the break.
The Bears continued to pull away in the third quarter, and Orr's fifth three of the game made it 53-32 midway through the third quarter. The Spartans scored the next six points to pull to within 15. Thompson hit a baseline three that sparked a 9-2 run to push the Bears' lead to 64-42 before a basket by the Spartans made it a 20-point game at the end of the third quarter. Case closed to within 18 twice in the opening three minutes of the fourth quarter, but a 9-3 run by the Bears gave them their largest lead of the game (75-51) with 3:53 to play before finishing with the 19-point win.
WashU took 29 more shots in the game than Case. The Bears finished with 45.8 percent (33-72) shooting in the game, while Case shot 51.2 percent (22-43) from the field. WashU outrebounded Case 40-26, including 19-3 on the offensive glass. The Bears also forced 15 turnovers, including 10 steals, to finish with a 17-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
Orr led the Bears with her 23 points, including 5-of-10 from three-point range. Martinez also finished in double-figures with 14 points on 7-of-8 shooting from the field. Dynis and Botkin added eight points each off the bench, and Botkin grabbed a team-high seven rebounds. Biewen tallied five points, six rebounds, six assists and four steals for the Bears.
Bear Notebook: WashU leads the all-time series against Case 45-1, and the Bears have won each of the last seven games between the two teams … Following the game, WashU held a ceremony officially naming the playing court Edwards-Fahey Court in honor of head coach Nancy Fahey and head men's basketball coach Mark Edwards … The Bears are 340-55 all-time in UAA play, including a 187-11 mark at the WU Field House … WashU improved to 13-0 this season when outrebounding its opponent … Biewen's four steals brought her career total to 169, tying Amy Wiegner (1985-89) for eighth on WashU's all-time career leaderboard … Martinez had three steals to bring her season total to 66, passing Lesley Hawley (2003-04) and Sarah Goldman (1993-94) for ninth on WashU's all-time single-season list … Thompson made the 65th start of her career, while Biewen started for the 50th time … It was the fourth time this season Orr has topped the 20-point mark.