Cleveland, Ohio, Jan. 17, 2020 – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team suffered a 74-73 loss to Case Western University in its first conference road test Friday in Cleveland.
With the Spartans down two, McKenna Gross converted a three-point play with 5.3 seconds left to make it 74-73. Freshman Karissa Grandison went the distance on the final play but her lay-up was off the mark.
Case improved to 7-6 and 2-0 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while WashU suffered its fourth-straight defeat and fell to 7-6 and 0-2 in the league.
Freshman Molly Gannon and sophomore Samantha Weaver each had 14 points to lead WashU, while senior Kristina Schmelter had nine points and 10 rebounds. The Bears hit 11-of-25 from three-point range.
Gannon had the hot hand early in the contest as she scored eight of the first 13 points for WashU as the Bears led 13-12. She picked up her second foul with 3:52 left in the first quarter and sat the rest of the half. WashU led 20-16 after 10 minutes of play as the Bears hit 5-of-9 three-pointers.
Case cut the lead down to three (29-26) midway through the second quarter, but WashU ended the half on a 10-2 run to take a 39-28 lead.
WashU limited Case to 25.0 percent (8-32) shooting in the first and forced nine turnovers. Gannon and Weaver led the Bears with eight points each. WashU had a 17-2 advantage in bench points and 11-4 second-chance points.
Freshman Sammi Matoush's three pushed the advantage to 42-28, but Case answered with an 8-2 run to trim the advantage to 44-39. The Spartans cut the lead two to three (48-45), but Weaver's steal and a bucket made it 50-45.
Case got the lead down to two (56-54) with less than seven minutes left, but Gannon hit a 22-foot three from the wing to get the lead back to five.
The Spartans gained their first lead since 3-2 on a bucket with 4:21 to play, but junior Camille Keane responded with a 25-foot three with the shot clock running down. Case hit 12-of-16 shots in the final quarter.
Abbey Lawrence led Case with 21 points, while Kendall McConico added 11 points. Melissa Heath and Isabella Mills had 10 points each for the Spartans.
WashU concludes its two-game road trip on Sunday, Jan. 19, at Carnegie Mellon University. Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. (ET) in Pittsburgh.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Case 51-2, and the Spartans snapped a 13-game losing streak to the Bears … Freshman guard Naomi Jackson had six points in her first career start … Case is 6-0 at home this season.