Greencastle, Ind., March 8, 2013 – The No. 21-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team had its season come to an end with a 59-42 loss at No. 1 DePauw University in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Division III Women's Basketball Championship Friday night in Greencastle, Ind.
Washington U. finished its season with a 22-6 record, and advanced to the Sweet 16 for the 15th time in school history. DePauw improved to 31-0 on the season. Washington U. shot 30.2 percent (16-of-53) from the field in the game. The Tigers shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the field in the game, including 52.2 percent (12-of-23) in the second half. DePauw also finished 10-of-24 (41.7 percent) from three-point range, compared with 2-of-11 for the Bears. The Tigers outrebounded Washington U. 38-34 in the game.
Sophomore forward Melissa Gilkey led Washington U. with 14 points, six rebounds and two blocked shots. Junior forward Jordan Rettig also scored in double figures, with 13 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Senior forward Kristin Anda added six points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
DePauw grabbed a 5-0 lead to start the game on a pair of second-chance baskets, before a layup by Rettig got the Bears on the scoreboard and made it 5-2 with 15:41 to play in the first half. The Tigers extended their lead to 7-2, but a three-pointer by Scheppers cut the lead to 7-5. After a jumper by Walker pushed the DePauw lead back to four, Rettig got an offensive rebound and converted a three-point play to make it a one-point game with 13:09 left in the half.
The Tigers got a three-pointer late in the shot clock and a fast-break layup to push their lead to 19-11 and force a timeout by Washington U. with 7:08 to play in the half. The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes before a three-pointer by Gilkey brought the Bears to within 25-20 with 1:55 left in the half. DePauw answered with a three on its next possession after a pair of offensive rebounds, to take a 28-20 lead into halftime.
DePauw made a pair of three-pointers to fuel a 10-2 run to open the second half and push its lead to 38-22. The Bears cut the deficit to 12 (38-26) on back-to-back baskets by Rettig and Gilkey, but the Tigers made four of their next five three-point attempts to help them extend their lead to 56-33 with 4:59 remaining.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against DePauw, 18-7, but is 0-3 against the Tigers in the NCAA Tournament … Washington U. is 62-22 in 25 NCAA Tournament appearances, the most tournament wins by any Division III program … Gilkey scored in double figures in 25 of 28 games this season … Junior guard Lucy Montgomery finished the season with 42.2 percent shooting from three-point range, which ranks sixth on Washington U.'s all-time single-season list … Gilkey's two blocks brought her career total to 67, one shy of eighth place on Washington U.'s all-time career leaderboard.