From Washington University Athletics
Three players scored in double figures and the No. 5-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team turned 34 turnovers by Fontbonne University into 43 points as the Bears remained unbeaten with an 88-35 win over the Griffins Thursday night at the WU Field House.
Senior Melissa Gilkey scored a career-high 34 points, topping the 30-point mark for the second game in a row, and pulled down 12 rebounds for her sixth double-double of the season to lead Washington U. in the win. Junior Jordan Thompson added a season-high 12 points, including 3-of-5 from three-point range, while dishing out three assists. Junior Paige Naig reached double figures for the first time in her career, finishing with 10 points on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field. Naig also had four rebounds, all on the offensive glass.
Senior Steph Vukotic chipped in with season-highs of nine points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, while sophomore Ereka Hunt had a career-high four assists and senior Maddy Scheppers led the Bears defensively with a career-high six steals.
After a basket by Fontbonne tied the score at 4-4 with 16:58 to play in the first half, Gilkey converted a three-point play to spark a 9-0 run for the Bears that gave them a 13-4 lead. The Griffins closed to within seven at 16-9 with 10:53 left in the half, but a three-pointer by Thompson started a 17-2 run for Washington U. that included nine points by Gilkey and extended the lead to 33-11 with 3:27 remaining.
A basket by Thompson gave the Bears their largest lead of the half at 40-15 with 50 seconds left, but Fontbonne made a three-pointer that made the halftime score 40-18 in favor of Washington U. The Bears continued to pull away in the second half, stretching the lead to 69-26 on a second-chance basket by Vukotic with 9:41 remaining. The Griffins scored the next four points to cut the deficit to 39, but Washington U. outscored Fontbonne 19-5 in the remaining 8:30 to finish with the 53-point win.
As a team, Washington U. shot 48.5 percent (32-66) from the field, while Fontbonne finished with 32.6 percent (15-46) field-goal shooting. The Bears were 19-of-29 at the free-throw line, compared with just 2-of-7 for the Griffins. Washington U. outrebounded Fontbonne 47-27, including a 22-8 advantage on the offensive glass. The Bears also posted season-highs of nine blocks and 17 steals.
Washington U. improved to 9-0 with the win, while Fontbonne dropped to 3-5. The Bears conclude their non-conference schedule at the Wartburg Holiday Tournament Monday-Tuesday, Dec. 29-30, in Waverly, Iowa. Washington U. takes on Iowa Wesleyan College at 2 p.m. Dec. 29. Host Wartburg College and College of Saint Benedict play in the other game that day at 4 p.m., with the consolation game at 1 p.m. Dec. 30, followed by the championship at 3.
Bear Notebook: Washington U. is 35-4 all-time against Fontbonne … The Bears finished with a 43-15 advantage in points off turnovers and a 40-12 advantage in points in the paint … Eleven different players scored for Washington U., marking the seventh time this season that at least 10 players have reached the scoring column … It was the third 30-point game of Gilkey's career … She now has 1,373 career points, and moved past Karen Hermann (1987-91) to fifth on Washington U.'s all-time list … With her six steals, Scheppers brought her career total to 152 and moved into a tie for 10th on the Bears' career leaderboard with Emily Harold (1996-2000) … Scheppers made her 96th career three-pointer, tying her with Kathryn Berger (2007-11) for ninth on Washington U.'s all-time list.