From Washington University Athletics
Senior Maddy Scheppers scored a season-high 22 points, including a career-best 6-of-7 from three-point range, to lead the No. 5-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team to a 73-49 win over Iowa Wesleyan College Monday afternoon at the Wartburg Holiday Tournament.
Washington U. got off to a hot start offensively, hitting three of its first five field goals to build a 13-2 lead with 17:08 left in the first half after three-pointers by junior Katybeth Biewen and Scheppers. The Tigers used strong outside shooting to get back into the game, cutting the Bears' lead to 19-14 after their fourth three-pointer of the half with 12:01 remaining.
Senior Alyssa Johanson and Scheppers combined to score the next 10 points, including a pair of threes by Scheppers, to quickly extend the lead to 29-14 with 8:56 left. Iowa Wesleyan responded again and the Tigers' sixth three-pointer of the half pulled them to within 31-22 with 5:59 on the clock. A pullup jumper by Scheppers sparked a 16-4 run for the Bears to end the half and send them to the locker room with a 47-26 lead.
The Bears forced turnovers on Iowa Wesleyan's first four possessions of the second half, and extended their lead to 54-26 with a three-pointer from the baseline by junior Jordan Thompson. A three-pointer by sophomore Ereka Hunt gave Washington U. its largest lead of the game at 65-33 with 11:33 remaining. Iowa Wesleyan scored 11 of the final 15 points of the game to make the final score 73-49 in favor of the Bears.
Washington U. shot 41.2 percent (28-68) from the field in the game, including 10-of-23 (43.5 percent) from three-point range. Iowa Wesleyan finished with 34.7 percent field-goal shooting (17-49), including 9-of-26 (34.6 percent) from beyond the arc. The Bears outrebounded the Tigers 47-27 and forced 20 turnovers in the win.
Scheppers had a game-high 22 points and added a pair of steals, and Johanson added 10 points. Senior Melissa Gilkey finished with nine points, seven rebounds and two steals, while Biewen chipped in with seven points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals. Freshman Natalie Orr scored a career-high seven points off the bench, while senior Steph Vukotic came off the bench to score two points and grab six rebounds. Thompson dished out a team-high six assists to go with her three points.
Washington U. improved to 10-0 for the first time since the 2005-06 season with the win, while Iowa Wesleyan dropped to 5-4. The Bears will play in the championship game of the Wartburg Tournament at 3 p.m. Tuesday in their final non-conference game of the season. Washington U. will face the winner of Monday's second game between host Wartburg College and College of Saint Benedict.
Bear Notebook: It was the first-ever meeting between Washington U. and Iowa Wesleyan … Scheppers made her 70th consecutive start for the Bears, while Gilkey started her 92nd game in a row … Eleven different players scored for Washington U., the eighth time this season that at least 10 players have been in the scoring column … With her six three-pointers, Scheppers brought her career total to 102, passing Sara Ettner (1997-2001) for eighth on the Washington U. all-time career list … Scheppers also moved into a tie with Sarah Schell (2003-07) for ninth on the all-time steals leaderboard with her 154th career steal … Gilkey passed Kathryn Berger (2007-11) for sixth on the Bears' all-time career rebounding leaderboard, bringing her total to 719.