St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 24, 2020 – Freshman Sammi Matoush scored a career-high 22 points on five three-pointers but it was not enough as the Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team suffered an 86-81 loss to Brandeis University Friday at the WU Field House in St. Louis.
Brandeis improved to 12-3 and 2-2 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while WashU fell to 8-7 and 1-3 in the conference.
Matoush was 8-of-15 from the field and hit 5-of-10 from three-point range. She also tied a career-high with four assists. Sophomore Samantha Weaver added 16 points, while senior Kristina Schmelter had her fourth double-double of the season with 11 points and 14 rebounds.
WashU shot 39.7 percent (29-73) from the field and had 24 assists.
Matoush had the hot hand early in the contest with a pair of threes, and then a triple by freshman Naomi Jackson tied the contest at 11-11. Jackson's three ignited a 5-0 run as WashU took the 15-11 lead. The Bears led 22-20 after one quarter.
Brandeis scored the first five points of the second quarter, but Jackson's second three of the game tied it at 25-25. The Judges went on a 10-3 run to take the 40-31 lead with 5:10 to play before half.
Freshman Molly Gannon hit a pair of threes to highlight an 8-0 run to end the first half as WashU cut the lead to 44-41. Matoush led WashU with 11 points the Bears shot 44.4 percent (16-36) from the field, including 8-of-16 from three-point range.
A back-and-forth third quarter saw the Bears jump in front 58-56 after a three-pointer by Matoush. Jackson's corner three made it 63-58, as WashU took the four-point advantage (63-59) after three quarters.
Brandeis went on a 7-2 run to take the 71-67 lead, but a three but Matoush and a bucket by Weaver gave WashU the 73-72 lead with 2:55 left. Brandeis answered with a 7-0 run to put the game out of reach.
Camila Casanueva had 20 points, nine rebounds and four assists to lead Brandeis, while Jillian Petrie had 18 points and seven boards. Emma Reavis (12) and Hannah Nicholson (10) also scored in double figures for Brandeis, which connected on 23-of-31 free-throws and outrebounded WashU 47-41.
WashU hosts New York University on Sunday, Jan. 26, at 2 p.m. as part of Youth Day.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU leads the all-time series with Brandeis 58-5, and the Judges snapped a three-game losing streak to the Bears … WashU is 26-8 at home under Henderson in three seasons … Matoush is now the Bears' leading scorer (12.1 ppg) … Gannon filled up the stat sheet with nine points and career-highs in rebounds (6) and assists (5).