Rochester, N.Y., Feb. 15, 2015 – The No. 7-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team put together a furious rally after trailing by nine with 2:38 to play but fell short in a 76-75 loss at the University of Rochester Sunday in Rochester, N.Y.
Washington U. falls to 20-2, 9-2 in the University Athletic Association (UAA), while Rochester improved to 13-9, 5-6 in the UAA. The Bears are tied for second in the conference standings with New York University, one game behind first place University of Chicago with three games remaining.
Senior guard Maddy Scheppers scored 20 points to lead Washington U., while junior guard Jordan Thompson added a season-high 17 points and six assists. Senior forward Melissa Gilkey had 16 points, eight rebounds and three blocks, while junior guard Katybeth Biewen added a season-high 10 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Senior forward Alyssa Johanson added nine points and a career-high nine boards.
Washington U. shot 35.8 percent (29-of-81) from the field, and hit 9-of-21 from three-point range. Rochester had the 50-43 advantage in rebounds, just the fourth time this season the Bears have been outrebounded.
Washington U. started slow from the field hitting just 5-of-15 field goals, but three-straight buckets from Gilkey gave the Bears a 11-8 lead with 13:06 left in the first half. Alexandra Leslie scored nine of the first 11 points for Rochester, and three free-throws by Brynn Lauer gave Rochester its first lead at 14-11.
A free-throw and a put back by senior center Steph Vukotic tied the contest at 24-24 with 4:55 to play, but the Bears would go ice cold from the field to end the first half. Washington U. missed its final six shots, and Rochester responded with an 11-0 run to take a 35-24 lead.
Washington U. shot 26.3 percent (10-of-38) from the field in the half, and hit just 2-of-6 from the foul line. Gilkey had nine points to lead the Bears, but picked up her second foul with 6:13 remaining. Leslie had 15 points to lead all scorers.
After hitting just two threes in the opening half, Washington U. relied on its three-point shooting to get back in to the contest. Thompson had eight of the first 16 points of the second half for the Bears, including a pair of threes, as they trimmed the lead to four (42-38) with 14:15 to play.
Johanson ignited an 8-2 run with a pair of buckets, which cut the lead to two (48-46) with less than 10 minutes left. The seniors continued to lead the way as Scheppers canned a three from the wing, and then hit three free-throws to tie the game at 52-52. Johanson gave the Bears their first lead since 11-10 with a corner jumper to make it 54-52 with 6:11 to play.
Rochester went on a 10-2 run to build a nine-point advantage with 2:38 to play. Scheppers drained a three and added a driving lay-up to make it a five-point deficit at 70-65. The senior class scored 27-straight points for the Bears during a 10-minute span in the second half.
Thompson drilled a three-pointer from the wing with 23.8 seconds left to cut the lead to one, but Lauren Deming hit two free-throws with 19 seconds left to make it 75-72. Thompson missed a game-tying three with seven seconds left.
Deming (21 points), Leslie (21 points, 14 rebounds) and Brynn Lauer (14) all scored in double figures for Rochester, who hit 23-of-33 from the free-throw line in the win. The Yellowjackets also outscored Washington U. 30-3 in bench points.
Washington U. returns home for its final three games of the regular season. The Bears host No. 12 New York University at 6 p.m. Friday, Feb. 20, followed by a meeting with Brandeis University at 2 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at the WU Field House.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. leads the all-time series against Rochester, 42-15, and the Bears and Yellowjackets have split the season series seven of the last eights years … The Bears are 2-2 when trailing at the half … Gilkey passed Kelly Manning (2002-06) for third on the all-time scoring list with 1,591 points … Thompson moved into a tie for eighth place in career assists with 300.