From Washington University Athletics
No. 9 Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball opened the Midwest Challenge with a 60-48 win over DePauw University on Saturday afternoon at Illinois Wesleyan's Shirk Center.
The Bears improved to 4-0 while they handed DePauw (3-1) its first loss of the season in a game that saw the lead change seven times. WashU's defense held the Tigers to 29.6 percent from the floor to overcome a 42-34 discrepancy in rebounds. The Bears also outscored the Tigers in points off of turnovers, 19-10, while outscoring DePauw 20-10 in points in the paint.
The Bears fell behind early in the opening quarter but took an 8-7 lead when sophomore Madeline Homoly grabbed an offensive board and found an open Rachael Sondag who cut through the paint for an uncontested floater. Moments later a DePauw three-pointer gave the Tigers the lead but Sondag put WashU ahead with a three of her own. The Bears lead 11-10 after the first quarter of play.
Homoly helped the Bears to a 16-12 lead with a steal that led to a transition trey by junior Natalie Orr which was assisted by sophomore Becca Clark-Callender. Two free-throws from Steph Botkin and a Clark-Callender coast-to-coast layup stretched the Bear lead to 20-14. A corner three from Sondag on a Clark-Callender dish pushed the Bears ahead by nine with less than five minutes remaining in the half. The Tigers responded with a 6-2 run to tighten things up before Sondag beat the buzzer by mere seconds with her third triple of the half. Senior Zoe Vernonassisted on the play, helping WashU out to a 28-20 halftime lead.
DePauw worked its way to a 34-32 lead after utilizing a 14-4 run to start the third quarter. Following a WashU timeout, Clark-Callender answered the call with a dash through the lane for a contested two-point shot, evening the game at 34-all with two minutes left in the third. The Bears regained the lead on its next possession from multiple Jenn Dynis free throws; but the Tigers regained the lead with less than a minute left to play in the quarter on a three from the wing. With the clock winding down, Dynis answered with a swished shot from beyond the arc. The buzzer beater recaptured the lead for WashU, 39-37.
WashU quickly pushed its lead to six points when WashU opened the fourth with two quick baskets in less than a minute. Sondag hit a jumper on the first possession of the quarter and Homoly stole the ensuing inbound pass for a lay-in. Moments later Vernon set a new career-high in assists with her fifth of the night. Vernon found an open Sondag with a cross court pass, who sank the beyond the arc shot to give WashU a 48-39 advantage. Three free throws from Clark-Callender down the stretch helped the Bears close out the 60-48 win.
Sondag led the Bears in scoring with 16 points off the bench while Dynis (13) and Clark-Callender (11) exceeded double-figure totals too. Clark-Callender's 11 points off the bench were a career-high. Homoly's eight rebounds led WashU while Vernon's five assists were the most in the game for either team. Vernon also recorded a game-high three blocks.