St. Louis, Mo., Nov. 18, 2016 – Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball jumped out to an early lead en route to defeating Hanover College 98-60 in the Bears opening game of the 16th Annual McWilliams Classic on Friday night in the WU Field House.
The Bears (2-0) had 15 players get in on the scoring action as junior guard Natalie Orr led the way with 19 points, including 3-of-4 shooting from downtown. Hanover fell to 0-1 on the season.
WashU outscored the Panthers in every quarter, including double-digit discrepancies in the first through third periods of play. The Red and Green continued a trend from the opening game of the season utilizing caused turnovers into easy baskets. WashU scored 33 points off of turnovers, while the Panthers managed 10.
Hanover was ahead in the game just twice during the first two minutes of play until Orr drained a three from the corner on a dish from sophomore Claudia Smith. The Bears took a 5-3 lead on the triple and raced to a double digit lead on a jumper from Smith with 4:12 left on the clock in the first quarter.
The Panthers hit multiple free throws in the latter part of the first quarter to pull within nine points, 16-7 but another three from Orr gave the Bears a double digit advantage it would not relinquish.
Senior Lily Sarros worked towards her third career double-double in the second quarter with four points and three rebounds, while finishing the game with 11 points and 13 rebounds. The Bear lead continued to grow in the second quarter as WashU held a 47-23 halftime advantage.
WashU scored the most of any quarter in the third as senior Jenn Dynis led the scoring with seven points while Orr and sophomore Becca Clark-Callender chipped in five points each. WashU outscored Hanover 31-18 during the third.
Four Bears reached double figures in points as Orr (19), Sarros (11), Stephanie Botkin (10) and senior Zoe Vernon (10) reached the mark.
WashU will face No. 25 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges on Saturday Nov. 19, 2016 at 7 p.m. in the finale of the 2016 McWilliams Classic. CMS is 1-1 on the season after it suffered its first loss of the season against University of Chicago in the opening game of the classic. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.