From Washington University Athletics
The Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team earned a convincing 65-48 victory over the University of Rochester on Sunday afternoon at the Field House. It was a complete team effort from the Bears, who nearly led for the entirety of the contest.
WashU sweeps the season series against the Yellowjackets and bounces back into the win column and improves to 13-9, (7-4 UAA), while Rochester drops 14-8 (6-5 UAA).
After today's contest, the Bears are currently in a tie for second place with Emory.
The Bears won the rebounding edge 44-33 and produced 20 fastbreak points, while outscoring the Yellowjackets' bench 36-7.
In the first quarter, the Bears' defense held Rochester to just 4-17 shooting and closed out the final three minutes of the period on a 7-0 run to take a 16-9 lead.
Holding a seven-point advantage, the Yellowjackets fought back and cut the Bears' lead down to 18-15, but WU answered with a big 13-4 run.
Maya Arnott and Jessica Brooks accounted for eight points combined in the run, including a three-point field goal and fastbreak layup from Naomi Jackson, which extended the lead out to double digits at 31-19.
WashU outscored Rochester 20-14 in the frame and boasted a comfortable 36-22 lead at halftime.
After a driving layup in the paint from Karisa Grandison, WashU posted its largest up to that point in the game at 40-23 early in the third period.
The Yellowjackets compiled a 12-3 run and reduced WU's lead down to eight points at 43-35, but the Bears would not allow the momentum to swing into Rochester's favor, as they ended the frame on a 7-0 run.
A three from Molly Gannon pushed the lead out to 48-35, and then baskets from Lauren Chao and Sabrina DelBello increased the Bears' lead back to 17 points (52-35) heading into the fourth.
The Bears' defense did another fantastic job in the fourth quarter and forced Rochester into difficult shot attempts, as the Yellowjackets collectively shot just 5-19 from the field.
For the afternoon, WashU limited Rochester to just 31 percent shooting and 2-19 from three-point territory.
WashU put the finishing touches on the contest, starting the fourth on an 8-2 run, which marked the largest lead of the afternoon at 60-37.
Jessica Brooks and Maya Arnott both lead WU in the scoring column with 12 points apiece. Arnott tabbed eight rebounds with two assists, a block and a steal.
Lauren Chao notched double figures scoring for the third time this season, posting 11 points and seven rebounds on 5-8 shooting.
Naomi Jackson recorded eight points and dished out a team-best four assists and Molly Gannon logged six points and three assists.