St. Louis, Mo., Jan. 11, 2019 – The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team posted its third consecutive victory for the first time this season, as the Bears closed out a tightly contested University Athletic Association (UAA) victory 77-69 at home over the visiting Emory University Eagles on a snowy Friday evening in which the game time was delayed by more than an hour.
The Bears improved to 8-5 overall, including 2-0 within UAA play, while dropping the Eagles to 10-3 overall and 1-1 in UAA contests. WashU outshot Emory, 46.6 percent to 40 percent while also holding a 38-33 edge in rebounding. The Bears also held a slight edge in assists, 18-16.
The Bears front court pair of senior Madeline Homoly and junior Kristina Schmelter were highly effective. The duo scored 17 points apiece while shooting better than 50 percent.
Homoly who was honored prior to the game for becoming the 14th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points, is a single point away from tying Jaimie McFarlin (2005-10) for 13th all-time in program history with 1,071 points. The Kansas City, Mo.-native hit 8-of-9 shots from the field Friday evening.
Freshman Hayley Semple led the Bears with seven rebounds and three steals. Senior guards Becca Clark-Callender and Rachel Sondag tied for the team lead with four assists apiece.
Sondag finished the game with nine points, all coming in the fourth quarter as the Eagles desperately attempted to close the gap. Emory closed to within four points twice only to have Sondag dash the Eagles hopes with a shot from beyond the arc. She closed out the Bears scoring with a triple with 35 seconds on the clock as Emory trailed 74-69.
Emory's Ashley Oldshue led all scorers with 19 points while also registering a game-high 17 shots. Allison Chernow (18) and Erin Lindahl (13) also reached double figures for the Eagles.
The Bears held a 32-20 scoring advantage in points in the paint as well as a 34-12 discrepancy in bench scoring. Semple scored a career-high 11 points while shooting 50 percent from the field (4-8). Schmelter led all bench scorers with 17 while senior guard Caroline Ballard scored nine points, including 6-of-6 from the free-throw line.
WashU will continue UAA play at home on Sunday, Jan. 13 against University of Rochester at 1:30 p.m. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.