St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 30, 2015 – Three players scored in double figures for the No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team, and the Bears used a 33-6 run in the middle of the game to earn a 73-49 win over Carnegie Mellon University in University Athletic Association (UAA) action Friday evening at the WU Field House.
Carnegie Mellon was hot from three-point range, making five of its first six shots from beyond the arc to start the game. The Tartans gained an 18-12 lead on a jumper with 10:05 to play in the opening half, but a three-pointer by freshman Natalie Orr and a basket by senior Steph Vukotic quickly brought the Bears to within 18-17. After Carnegie Mellon's fifth three extended the lead to 21-17 with 8:44 to play, Washington U. outscored the Tartans 22-4 to end the half. Back-to-back three-pointers by senior Alyssa Johanson and Orr gave the Bears the lead for good 23-21.
The Tartans cut the lead to one at 24-23, but Orr's fourth three-pointer and a basket by senior Melissa Gilkey quickly extended the lead to six. Carnegie Mellon scored another basket to cut the Bears' lead to four, but Washington U. scored the final 10 points of the half, including a pair of three-pointers by senior Maddy Scheppers, to head to halftime with a 39-25 lead.
Carnegie Mellon got the first basket of the second half, but the Bears answered with an 11-0 run over the next five minutes, and a three by Scheppers as the shot clock was running out made it 50-27 in favor of Washington U. The closest the Tartans got the remainder of the game was 19 points. The Bears took their largest lead at 73-44, before Carnegie Mellon scored the final five points of the game to make the final score 73-49.
Washington U. shot 43.5 percent (27-62) from the field, including a season-best 55.6 percent (10-18) from three-point range. Carnegie Mellon shot 40.8 percent from the field and was 7-of-20 (35 percent) from beyond the arc, but just 2-of-11 in the second half. Washington U. also finished with a 40-33 rebounding advantage, and turned 22 Tartan turnovers into a 21-9 advantage in points off turnovers. The Bears had a season-high 25 assists on their 27 field goals in the game.
Orr scored a career-high 17 points on 6-of-7 shooting from the field, including a perfect 5-of-5 from three-point range, while also dishing out a career-high five assists. Gilkey also finished with 17 points and five rebounds. Scheppers made four three-pointers to score 12 points, while equaling her season-high with seven rebounds and also adding three assists and four steals. Junior Katybeth Biewen added a career-high eight assists, while finishing with four points and four rebounds.
Washington U. improved to 16-1 overall and 5-1 in the UAA with the win, while Carnegie Mellon dropped to 11-6 overall and 2-4 in the conference. The Bears finish the first half of the conference schedule by hosting Case Western Reserve University at 2 p.m. Sunday at the WU Field House. Case lost 74-59 at the University of Chicago Friday night.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Carnegie Mellon 50-3, and the Bears have won the last 43 meetings between the two teams … It was the 11th straight home win for the Bears, dating to Feb. 9, 2014 … Washington U. improved to 325-52 (.862) all-time in UAA play, including a 178-10 (.947) record at the WU Field House … Washington U. has outrebounded 15 of its 17 opponents this season, and is 74-7 since the 2011-12 season when winning the rebounding battle … It was just the second time this season that Carnegie Mellon has been outrebounded this season … The 49 points was a season-low for Carnegie Mellon … Gilkey passed Amy Schweizer (1994-98) for fourth on Washington U.'s all-time career scoring list with 1,498 points … Ten different players scored for the Bears in the win, the 11th time this season that has happened.