Pittsburgh, Pa., January 25, 2013 – Junior Lucy Montgomery scored 12 of her game-high 15 points in the second half as the No. 7 ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team picked up a 73-57 road win at Carnegie Mellon University in University Athletic Association (UAA) play Friday in Pittsburgh.
Montgomery was 5-of-9 from three-point range as Washington U. drained a season-high 10 three-pointers in the win. Sophomore Maddy Scheppers added 10 points and seven rebounds, while senior Nishi Tavernier scored a career-high 10 points.
Washington U. started slow hitting just 4-of-17 shots from the field, but it was the play of the bench that gave the Bears the early advantage. A 10-2 run by Washington U. with eight of the 10 points coming from the bench gave the Bears a 14-7 lead with 11:06 to play in the first half. The Bears' defense limited CMU to seven points in opening 10 minutes forcing seven turnovers and a 3-of-11 mark from the field.
Washington U. took its largest lead of the first half at 20-10 with 8:29 to play following back-to-back three's from Scheppers. Going against a 2-3 zone for the entire first half, the Bears continued to shoot the ball well from three-point range as three's from Montgomery and freshmanJordan Thompson made it 28-20. Washington U. hit 4-of-12 from three's in the first half.
The Bears held onto a six-point advantage (34-28) at halftime as Washington U. had a 13-5 advantage in second-chance points and owned a 25-20 advantage on the boards. Scheppers had eight points to leads the Bears.
Washington U. extended the advantage to nine (41-32) early in the second half after sophomore Melissa Gilkey connected on 3-of-4 free-throws for the Bears. With Carnegie still in the 2-3 zone, Montgomery canned another three from the corner to make it a 10-point advantage (45-35) with 13:39 left.
Carnegie Mellon (10-7, 2-4 UAA) trimmed the lead down to four (46-42), but after a WUSTL timeout Tavernier and Montgomery nailed triples to get the lead back in double figures. Montgomery would drain two more three-pointers to put the game out of reach.
Washington U. outrebounded Carnegie Mellon, 51-33, and had a 27-13 advantage in second-chance points. The Bears shot 36.8 percent (25-68) from the field in the win, including 41.7 percent (10-24) from three-point range. The Tartans entered the game ranked first in three-point field-goal percentage defense (.255).
Lindsay Poss (13) and Emily Peel (10) each scored in double figures for Carnegie Mellon, which suffered its fourth-straight defeat. Reigning UAA Athlete of the Week Jacquie Shaw did not score in 12 minutes played.
Washington University (15-2, 5-1 UAA) completes the first half of UAA play Sunday, Jan. 27, at Case Western Reserve University. Game time is set for 1 p.m. (ET) in Cleveland, Ohio. The Bears have now won 15 or more games in all 27 seasons under head coach Nancy Fahey.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. has outrebounded 16 of its 17 opponents this season … Carnegie Mellon was picked fifth in the UAA Preseason Coaches Poll … Gilkey was held to seven points snapping a string of 19-straight games in double figures … Washington U. has scored 73 or more points in 10 wins this season, and boasts a 37-0 record in the past four seasons when toping that mark … The Bears are 4-0 on Friday's this season … Washington U. leads the all-time series with Carnegie Mellon 46-3.