St. Louis, Mo., February 10, 2012 – The No. 12-ranked Washington University in St. Louis women's basketball team used a strong defensive effort in the second half to overcome a seven-point halftime deficit in the Bears' 59-50 win over Case Western Reserve University in a University Athletic Association (UAA) game on Friday night.
After trailing 27-20 at halftime, Washington U. got defensive stops on the Spartans' first four possessions of the second half. Senior Dani Hoover scored the first six points of the half to bring the Bears to within 26-27 before Case stretched its lead back to six points (34-28) with 16:40 remaining in the game. Freshman Melissa Gilkey and senior Brianne Monahan combined to score the next seven points to give Washington U. a 35-34 lead with 12:40 to play.
A basket by Case gave the Spartans the lead back (36-35), but Washington U. answered with a 16-4 run, including nine points by freshman Alyssa Johanson to make the score 51-38 in favor of the Bears with 4:05 left in the game. The Spartans made a pair of three-pointers in the final two minutes to get to within single digits, but Washington U. made 8-of-10 free throws down the stretch to seal the 59-50 win.
Gilkey scored eight of the first 12 points of the game for Washington U. as the Bears and Spartans played to a 12-12 tie with 12:45 left in the first half. Case Western Reserve then went on a 13-4 run over the next nine minutes to open up a 25-16 lead. Freshman Maddy Scheppers made both ends of a bonus free-throw opportunity and senior Claire Schaeperkoetter made a pull-up jumper to get the Bears to within five points with 3:02 left in the half before a layup by the Spartans gave them a 27-20 halftime lead.
Washington U., who leads the UAA and ranks seventh in Division III averaging 14 turnovers per game, had 14 turnovers in the first half which led to a 9-0 advantage in points off turnovers for Case in the period. In the second half, the Bears scored 14 points off 11 Case turnovers.
The Bears shot 37.5 percent from the field in the game, including 45.8 percent in the second half. Case Western shot 32.3 percent from the field in the game. Washington U. finished with a 46-34 rebounding advantage and outscored the Spartans 22-3 at the free-throw line.
Gilkey notched the second double-double of her career with 12 points and a career-high 14 rebounds. Hoover, Johanson and Scheppers each finished with 11 points. Scheppers also pulled down nine rebounds to just miss a double-double, while Hoover had a team-high three steals for the Bears. Johanson scored seven of her 11 points at the free-throw line (7-7). Freshman Alexandra Keane tallied a team-high five assists.
Marissa Miles led Case with 10 points. Washington U. held the Spartans' two leading scorers – Erin Hollinger and Evy Iacono – to a combined 13 points on 5-of-30 shooting from the field.
Washington University (17-4, 7-3 UAA) remained in a tie for second place in the UAA standings with University of Rochester, who posted a 53-37 win over Brandeis University on Friday night. The Bears host their final regular-season home game at 2 p.m. on Sunday against Carnegie Mellon University. Prior to tip-off, the Bears will honor their seniors for senior day. Carnegie Mellon suffered a 95-46 loss at No. 2 University of Chicago on Friday night.
BEAR NOTEBOOK: Washington University head coach Nancy Fahey was inducted into the WU Sports Hall of Fame on Friday morning … Prior to the game, Washington U. honored Colonel Scott Scheppers, father of freshman Maddy Scheppers, who arrived in the United States Friday morning from Afghanistan to surprise his daughter … The Bears lead the all-time series against Case Western Reserve, 38-0 … Washington U. improved to 162-8 all-time against UAA opponents at the WU Field House … WU improved to 3-3 in games this season when they were trailing at halftime … It was just the second time this season that Erin Hollinger or Evy Iacono did not lead the Spartans in scoring … The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for Case.