New York, N.Y., Feb. 21, 2016 – Senior guard Jordan Thompson poured in a season-high 23 points to lead the No. 9-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 66-53 win at No. 22 New York University Sunday at the Coles Sports Center in New York, N.Y.
WashU's win combined with Rochester's loss at Carnegie Mellon secured the Bears third-straight University Athletic Association (UAA) championship and 22nd overall. The Bears also earned the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament. The NCAA Selection Show is scheduled to air on Monday, Feb. 29, at 1:30 p.m., on NCAA.com.
WashU improved its overall record to 20-4, 11-2 in the UAA, while NYU dropped its sixth-straight game and fell to 17-7, 6-7 in the UAA. The win for the Bears gave head coach Nancy Fahey her 26th 20-win season in 30 years at WashU, including the eighth 20-win season in a row.
Senior guard Jordan Thompson scored a season-high 23 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting, while junior forward Zoe Vernon added a career-best 18 points on 3-of-5 three-point shooting.
WashU shot 42.6 percent (20-of-47) from the field in the win, and hit 19-of-25 free-throws. The Bears had a 19-7 advantage in points off turnovers.
Thompson and Vernon combined to score 15 of the 17 points for WashU in the first quarter as the Bears jumped out in front 17-10. Vernon connected on her first three shots from the field, including two three pointers, to finish with 10 points in the quarter. Thompson added five points.
Vernon's second three-pointer ignited a 9-0 run as the Bears took a double-digit lead at 21-10 with less than nine minutes before half. The Bears held onto a 23-15 lead before a 6-0 run extended the lead to 29-15.
WashU took a 34-20 lead to the locker room after limiting NYU to 29.6 percent shooting (8-for-27) in the first half. Thompson and Vernon each had 12 points.
Thompson canned her third three of the game to five WashU at 37-22 lead, but the Violets answered with a 7-0 run to trim the lead to 37-29 and forced a timeout.
With the offensive struggling to score early in the fourth quarter, New York scored eight-straight points to trim the lead to 51-44 with 5:33 remaining on the clock.
Freshman forward Steph Botkin hit a long two out of the timeout and then Thompson drilled another three-pointer to make it 42-31 with 4:35 left in the third. Freshman guard Rachael Sondag provided a lift off the bench for the second-straight game by scoring five-straight points to extend the lead to 49-31.
New York got the lead down to seven (51-44), but two buckets by Thompson and a Vernon three put the game out of reach at 64-46.
Megan Dawe led NYU with 17 points, while Amy Harioka (13) and Kaitlyn Read (11) also scored in double figures. The Violets shot 37.3 percent (19-of-51) from the field.
WashU closes out regular-season play at the University of Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 27. Game time is set for 1 p.m. in the Windy City.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: WashU is 41-18 all-time against NYU, and the teams split the season series for the third time in the last four years … Sunday's contest was the final basketball game played at the Coles Sports Center … NYU is 9-3 at home this season … The Bears forced 19 turnovers in the win, including 11 in the second half … Senior forward Amanda Martinez moved into a tie for sixth in single-season steals with 72.