St. Louis, Mo., January 22, 2012 – The seventh-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team erased a 10-point second-half deficit, and a second-chance basket at the buzzer by senior Brianne Monahan gave the Bears a 51-49 win over New York University in University Athletic Association (UAA) action on Sunday afternoon at the WU Field House.

Scroll down for the video, from Washington University's student newspaper.

After trailing 21-20 at halftime, New York opened up a 10-point lead (35-25) on a steal and a layup by Bianca Storts with 14:02 left in the game. The Bears responded after a short timeout by NYU with a 10-2 run over the next four minutes cutting the deficit to 35-37 with 9:43 remaining. During that run, Washington U. forced four turnovers by the Violets with an aggressive full-court press. Less than a minute later, the Bears tied the score at 39-39 on a pair of free throws by freshman Alyssa Johanson.

New York extended its lead to four (45-41) with 5:23 left, but a second-chance three-pointer by freshman Maddy Scheppers cut the lead to one. Washington U. forced steals on the Violets' next three possessions, and the Bears took their first lead of the half (47-45) on a three-pointer by freshman Alexandra Keane with 3:10 on the clock. The Violets tied the score at 47-47 with a layup, before senior Dani Hoover made a pair of free throws to give WU the 49-47 lead with 1:35 left.

New York tied the score again (49-49) with 1:01 left in the game on a free-throw by Shelby Coon, but Coon's second attempt bounced off the rim and Monahan grabbed the rebound for the Bears. Washington U. missed a three-point attempt with 35 seconds left, but Johanson came away with the offensive rebound. After a timeout by the Bears, a three-pointer by Monahan with three seconds left was short, but Scheppers got the rebound under the basket and put it back up. When the shot by Scheppers didn't fall, Monahan pulled down the rebound and laid it in the basket as time expired to give Washington U. the 51-49 win.

Neither team was able to find much of an offensive rhythm in the first half, as the teams combined for 22 turnovers in the period. Washington U. led 8-2 with 14:14 left in the half after scoring eight-straight points. NYU answered with a 7-0 run to regain a one-point lead, but a three-pointer by Hoover gave the Bears a 14-11 lead with 9:08 remaining. There were three lead changes in the final four minutes of the half, and New York took a 21-20 lead into the locker room.

Washington U. shot 27.1 percent from the field in the game, compared with 42.9 percent shooting from the field by the Violets. The Bears finished 14-of-21 from the free-throw line, including 12-of-17 in the second half. New York finished just 4-of-10 from the free-throw line. The Bears also held a 42-36 rebounding advantage, including a 19-8 advantage on the offensive end. Washington U. scored 15 second-chance points, while NYU had seven.

Hoover led the Bears with 13 points, including a pair of three-pointers. Scheppers added nine points and a team-high eight rebounds, while also finishing with three assists and two steals. Johanson scored eight points for the Bears. Freshman Melissa Gilkey chipped in five points and seven rebounds, while Monahan tallied four points and six rebounds. Keane had a big day for the Bears as well, recording team-highs of six assists, four steals and two blocked shots to go with her three points and three rebounds.

Storts led all players with 19 points and nine rebounds for New York, who dropped to 9-7 overall and 1-4 in UAA play. Coon added 13 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

Washington U. (14-2, 4-1 UAA) continues its four-game home stand with a pair of contests at the WU Field House next weekend against two of the top-four teams in the UAA. On Friday, Jan. 27, the Bears will square off against No. 5 University of Rochester in a 6 p.m. game. Washington U. then hosts Emory University at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 29. Rochester improved to 16-0 overall and 5-0 in UAA play with a 74-29 win against Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday afternoon.

BEAR NOTEBOOK: Washington U. leads the all-time series against NYU 35-15, including winning the last eight in a row … The Bears improved to 160-7 all-time in UAA games at the WU Field House … It was just the third time this season that Washington U. has trailed at halftime, improving to 2-1 in those games … The Washington U. bench outscored the Violets' bench 26-8 … NYU entered the game last in the UAA in steals (7.0 per game), but finished with 12 steals against the Bears.