Pittsburgh, Pa., January 15, 2012 – The No. 8 ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team broke open a tie game midway through the second half with a 15-0 run en route to a 80-68 win at Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday afternoon at Skibo Gymnasium in Pittsburgh.
Freshman Melissa Gilkey scored a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field and 5-of-6 from the free-throw line. She also added eight rebounds in 27 minutes of action. Senior Dani Hoover added 16 points and five assists, while junior Jordan Rettig had a season-best 12 points and senior Brianne Monahan tied a season-high with 10 points.
Washington U. shredded the Carnegie Mellon zone early in the first half, as two jumpers from freshman Maddie Scheppers gave the Bears an early 16-15 lead with 13:09 let in the first half. The Bears connected on six of their first 10 shots from the field, while Carnegie Mellon stayed in the contest by scoring 10 of its first 17 points off the offensive glass.
The Tartans took their largest lead of the game at 24-19 with 9:31 to play after a three-pointer by Chandler Caufield and a jumper by Jennifer Larsen. Hoover ignited a 16-2 run for the Bears to get the lead to nine (35-26) after scoring six points in 11 seconds on a three-pointer and a steal and a three-point play. Gilkey also had nine-straight points during the decisive run.
Gilkey had 14 points in the first half on 6-of-9 shooting from the field, while Hoover added 12 points and five assists while playing some of the half at point guard. The Bears shot 47.4 percent (18-38) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, and had 11 assists. Washington U. scored 17 points of 11 Carnegie Mellon turnovers.
Carnegie Mellon (6-8, 0-3 UAA) tied the game following a three-point play by Emily Peel with 16:45 to play, but the Bears busted open the game with a 15-0 run to take a 63-48 advantage. The Tartans went without field goal for almost six minutes in the second half.
Washington U. shot 44.9 percent (31-69) from the field in the win, and hit 15-of-22 from the foul line. The Bears outrebounded Carnegie Mellon 40-31, and forced 20 turnovers for the second-straight game. Washington University had 22 offensive rebounds in the victory, which led to 24 second-chance points.
Peel (18 points), Jacquie Shaw (15 points) and Larsen (13 points) all scored in double figures for Carnegie Mellon, which dropped to 6-8 overall, 0-3 in the UAA. The Tartans shot 50 percent (25-50) in the loss.
Washington University (12-2, 2-1 UAA) begins a four-game home stand on Friday, Jan. 20, against Brandeis University. Tip-off is set for 6 p.m. at the WU Field House.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series with Carnegie Mellon 44-3 … The game was stopped at the 19:48 mark of the first half due to the game being start with a men's ball … Hoover surpassed the 500-point plateau, and now has 505 in her four-year career … The Bears are 11-1 this season when leading at halftime.