Bloomington, Ill., Nov. 24, 2012 – The No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in a 60-59 setback against No. 4 DePauw University Saturday afternoon at the Titan Tip-Off Tournament at the Shirk Center in Bloomington.
DePauw's Kate Walker made a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left in the game to lift the Tigers to the one-point win. Free throws were the key difference in the game, as DePauw finished with 18 points on 29 free-throw attempts, while the Bears were 3-of-5 from the line. Washington University (2-1) takes on No. 21 Coe College in the Titan Tip-Off Tournament consolation game at 1 p.m. Sunday. Coe lost 81-67 to No. 5 Illinois Wesleyan University in the second game Saturday afternoon.
Washington U. battled to a 28-24 lead at halftime after shooting 50 percent from the field (12-24) in the period. DePauw was just 8-of-26 (30.8 percent) from the field in the first half, but went 8-of-13 from the free-throw line.
DePauw opened the second half with a 13-0 run to turn the four-point deficit into a nine-point lead (37-28) with 15:01 left in the game. A basket by junior forward Jordan Rettig with 14:44 left ended the Bears' scoring drought. After the Tigers answered with a basket, sophomore guard Alyssa Johanson made a baseline jumper to spark a 14-3 run over the next four minutes for the Bears. Sophomore guard Maddy Scheppers drained a three-pointer after an offensive rebound by junior guard Lucy Montgomery to give the Bears a 44-42 lead with 10:23 remaining.
After a three-pointer by the Tigers gave them the lead back (45-44), a jumper by Johanson followed by a steal and layup by freshman guard Katybeth Biewen made it 48-45 in favor of Washington U. DePauw scored the next five points, but Montgomery answered with her third three-pointer of the game to give the Bears a 51-50 lead. The Tigers answered with a pair of free throws and a jumper to regain a 54-51 lead, but Scheppers hit a jumper and got a steal and layup to put the Bears ahead 55-54 with 4:12 left. After a free throw by DePauw gave the Tigers a 58-57 lead, sophomore forward Melissa Gilkey drove the lane for a basket to make it 59-58 with 26.1 seconds remaining. Gilkey was fouled on the basket, but her free throw bounced off the rim and DePauw grabbed the rebound to take the ball for its final possession that led to the game-winning free throws.
Washington U. shot 50 percent from the field (26-52) in the game, while DePauw shot just 34.5 percent (19-55). The Tigers finished with a 36-34 rebounding advantage, including 18 offensive rebounds to the Bears' nine. Scheppers led the Bears with 11 points, four rebounds and a career-high four steals, while Gilkey added 10 points and four rebounds. Montgomery tallied nine points, three rebounds and three assists, and Biewen and Johanson each chipped in eight points. Rettig finished with seven points and a team-high six rebounds.
Bear Notebook: Washington University leads the all-time series against DePauw, 18-6 … Gilkey and Scheppers have both scored in double figures in each of the Bears' first three games of the season.