Delaware, Ohio, December 29, 2010 –Sophomore Kristin Anda's baseline jumper with three seconds to play rattled out and the No. 4 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team fell 49-47 to second-ranked Hope College at the Ohio Wesleyan University Bishops Classic on Wednesday evening in Delaware, Ohio.
A rematch of the 2010 NCAA Division III national championship game, won by Washington University last March, 65-59, Wednesday's game between two of the top teams in the nation lived up to its billing, coming down the wire. The Bears trailed by seven points at the half but quickly came back to regain the lead in the second period, and from that point on no more than four points separated the two teams for the remainder of the game.
Washington University came out on fire to start the second half, outscoring Hope 7-1 over the first three minutes of the period and tying the score at 33-33 with a lay-up from junior Brianne Monahan. Anda scored on the Bears' next possession to give Washington U. its first lead since five minutes remained in the first half.
The game was tied four more times over the final 10 minutes of play with Hope holding on to a slim lead at the end of the game. Lauren Geers sank two free throws to break a 45-45 tie with 2:56 to play and a Liz Ellis lay-up with just under a minute remaining put the Flying Dutch ahead by four, their largest lead since the opening moments of the second half.
Junior Dani Hoover hit a lay-up in traffic to pull the Bears within two once again, and following a timeout the Red and Green got a defensive stop, forcing Ellis to miss a lay-up. Senior point guard Alex Hoover quickly led the Bears down the court to create a transition opportunity, but Anda's last second look was no good.
Senior Kathryn Berger led Washington University with 13 points, while Dani Hoover scored eight points and Anda added seven. Carrie Snikkers scored 13 points to go along with 14 rebounds to lead the Flying Dutch.
Following a very tight start to the game, a three-pointer from Berger broke a 16-16 tie and the Bears stretched their early lead to 21-16 thanks to a bank shot in the paint from senior Hannah Cusworth.
Cusworth's bucket came at a time when Hope was struggling to find its offensive rhythm, as the Flying Dutch hit just two field goals over a stretch of 8:09. That changed when Maddie Burnett cut the WUSTL lead to just two with 6:16 to play in the opening period, sparking a 13-2 Hope scoring run in the process.
After taking its five-point lead, Washington University was just 1-of-15 from the field over the final 8:24 of the first half and Hope built a seven-point advantage at the intermission. Six different players scored for the Flying Dutch during their big run with Allie Cerone hitting a three-pointer to give Hope a 24-21 lead and Courtney Kust converting a fast-break lay-up with just 15-seconds to play.
Hope outrebounded Washington U. 26-15 in the first half, and outscored the Bears 6-0 in second chance opportunities thanks to eight offensive rebounds. Berger led all scorers with seven first-half points and Cerone scored six points to pace a balanced offensive attack for the Flying Dutch.
Washington University's 2010-11 defensive effort against Hope was impressive, as the Bears have now held five straight opponents and seven of 10 overall under 50 points. The Bears' streak of outrebounding their opponents however came to an end. Hope finished with a 50-36 edge on the glass, and was the first team to outrebound Washington U. this season.
Bear Notebook: Wednesday night's game featured two of the winningest coaches in NCAA history; Washington U. head coach Nancy Fahey ranks fifth all-time (579-102, .852) and Hope College's Brian Morehouse is third in career winning percentage (358-60, .856) … With six rebounds, Berger moved into 10th place in school history with 584 in her career … The Bears fall to 1-2 against teams ranked in the top-25 this season.