Decatur, Ill., Dec. 31, 2013 – Junior guard Maddy Scheppers made a career-high five three-pointers on her way to scoring a career-best 23 points to lead the No. 2-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 69-53 win at Millikin University Tuesday afternoon.
Washington U. opened the game by making its first four field goals as it built a 13-2 lead, including three three-pointers by Scheppers. A basket by Millikin made it 22-12 in favor of the Bears with 11:35 to play in the half, but Washington U. answered with a 16-3 run to build its largest lead of the half at 38-15 on a three-point play by junior guard Alyssa Johanson with 3:48 left in the half. The Big Blue got to within 20, but a second-chance basket by Scheppers gave the Bears a 41-19 lead at halftime.
The Bears scored the first six points of the second half to take their largest lead of the game at 47-19 with 17:36 remaining. Millikin cut the lead to 60-42 with 6:15 left in the game, but Scheppers drained her fifth triple of the game after a Washington U. timeout to answer for the Bears. A pair of free throws by junior forward Melissa Gilkey made the score 69-48 with less than three minutes remaining, and Millikin made five-of-six free throws in the final 1:07 as the Bears finished with the 69-53 win.
Washington U. shot 44.8 percent (26-58) from the field in the game, including a season-best eight three-pointers. The Bears were also 9-of-12 from the free-throw line, including 7-of-8 in the first half. Millikin shot 40.8 percent (20-49) from the field, but was just 1-of-5 from beyond the arc. The Big Blue finished 12-of-15 at the free-throw line, including 9-of-10 in the second half. Washington U. finished with a 34-26 rebounding advantage.
Scheppers finished 9-of-16 from the field for her career- and game-high 23 points, and also equaled her career-high with four steals. Gilkey just missed a double-double with 13 points and nine rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, while Johanson also finished in double-figures with 10 points and five rebounds. Senior forward Jordan Rettig chipped in with eight points and four rebounds, and sophomore guard Jordan Thompson tallied a game-high six assists.
Washington U. improved to 9-1 on the season and returns home to close its non-conference schedule against Webster University Saturday, Jan. 4. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. at the WU Field House.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Millikin 11-9 … The Bears have outrebounded its opponents in all nine wins this season and is 70-9 when winning the rebounding battle since the 2010-11 season … It was the second time in Scheppers' career that she has topped the 20-point mark, and her 23 points is the highest single-game output by a Bear this season … Thompson now has 50 assists this season and 140 in her career … Gilkey's 13 points brought her career total to 875, and was her 50th double-digit scoring game of her career.