St. Louis, Mo., Feb. 15, 2019 – The No. 24 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team defeated New York University 71-58 Friday evening to at least capture a share of the University Athletic Association (UAA) Title during Eliot Night in front of 1,471 fans in the WU Field House.
WashU improved to 17-6 overall on the year with an 11-1 UAA record. NYU fell to 13-9 overall and 5-7 in the UAA. The Bears shot 64.7 percent from the field in the fourth quarter, overall shooting 42.9 percent in the entire game while holding the Violets to 39.6 percent from the field. WashU earned its 24th UAA title in program history, including five of the last six.
Senior forward Madeline Homoly scored a game-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field as freshman forward Samantha Weaver scored nine of a season-high tying 12 points in the fourth quarter to help lead the Bears to victory. Senior guard Becca Clark-Callender totaled a team-high four assists and moved into fourth place in WashU history with 341 career assists.
After trailing 47-45 heading into the fourth quarter, Weaver scored nine of the Bears points during an 11-2 run. Homoly converted the other layup as WashU slowly pulled away from the Violets before closing out the final two minutes of play with the final seven points of the game.
Homoly converted all four of her first quarter shots as the Bears led from the opening tip after a Homoly layup. WashU continued to attack the Violets in the paint scoring 16 points to NYU's four. Senior guard Rachael Sondag assisted on three baskets in the opening quarter to give WashU a 20-12 advantage after 10 minutes of play.
NYU cut into the Bears first quarter lead scoring 15 points in the second quarter to WashU's 11. The Red & Green were held to 25 percent shooting from the field (4-16) after shooting 61.5 percent from the field (8-13) in the first quarter. With 5:57 left in the second, NYU cut the lead to three points before the Bears went on a 7-0 run. The Violets closed out the quarter with a 6-0 run to trim the WashU lead to 31-27 at half.
Homoly led all scorers with 12 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Freshman guard Hayley Semple led the Bears first half with four rebounds.
NYU rallied to take the lead in the third quarter after about four minutes of play. The Violets scored the first six points of the second half causing a Bears timeout. WashU responded with an 11-6 run to recapture the lead, but back-to-back three-pointers by NYU gave the Violets a 47-45 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Katie Claussner had a three-point play the hard way with three minutes left to play. The and-one basket by Claussner put WashU ahead 44-40, but NYU closed out the frame with a 7-1 run.
Weaver scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to give the Bears a 51-47 advantage. Clark-Callender and senior guard Caroline Ballard assisted on two of the plays.
Weaver put the Bears back ahead by multiple baskets with another and-one play in favor of WashU. Moments later, Homoly added a quick drive to the lane for a layup and gave WashU a 56-49 lead with 6:40 to go in the game.
The UAA leading scorer, Janean Cuffee led NYU with 19 points while Shaye McGoey and Lauren Koyama totaled 11 points each off the bench.
WashU will host Brandeis University on Sunday, Feb. 17 during Play4Kay day at 2 p.m. Fans are encouraged to wear pink. Be sure to stay up to date on all your Bears scores and awards by following @WashUBears on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.