Melissa Gilkey scored 19 points and Maddy Scheppers added 15 more as visiting Washington (MO) University defeated the University of Rochester, 60-55, in a matchup of top 10 women's basketball teams at the Louis Alexander Palestra Friday night.
Laney Ming scored 13 points and added eight assists for the Yellowjackets (17-2, 6-2 UAA).
Danielle McNabb scored nine points and
Ally Zywicki had eight points.
Scheppers scored 19 points and grabbed 10 rebounds while Gilkey added 15 and blocked four shots. No one else scored in double figure points for the Bears (16-3 overall, 6-2 UAA) but the visitors got help in other areas. Dani Hoover had four steals and four assists. Brianne Monahan had three steals and one block. Washington had 15 steals from 22 Rochester turnovers and produced 16 points.
The visitors jumped out to a seven point lead early on behind a 3-pointer from Claire Schaeperkoetter, leading 16-9. Washington maintained the lead around three points for the remainder of the half until with a minute to go, two Ming free throws and a
Kristyn Wright trey put Rochester up for the first time at 24-23. At the half, the Yellowjackets led 26-24.
Neither team shot well in the first half – Rochester at 32.3% (10/31) and Washington at 33% (9/27).
At lay-up to start the second half by
Madeline Korber boosted UR to its biggest lead of four, but that was it as the Bears fought back and took control of the game after that point. The lead ballooned up to eight in favor of the visitors with 4:52 remaining but the Yellowjackets were determined to not go down without a fight.
Five straight points from McNabb and then an
Amy Woods lay-up got the lead down to just three with under three minutes remaining. Then with just 53 seconds left on the clock, Wright had a shot from long range to tie it up, but the ball rattled out and Scheppers cleaned up the glass to not allow UR to get another chance. Four Wash U free throws then sealed the win for the #8 ranked Bears.
The Bears found their shooting touch in the second half, hitting 12 of 23 from the floor (52.2%), including four of six outside the arc. Rochester shot 37.9% (11/29) and 25% outside the arc (2/8). UR's bench outscored the Bears reserves 24-8, while the Bears committed fewer turnovers only surrendering 18 compared to Rochester's 22.
The loss was the first at home on the season for Rochester, with their chance to bounce back coming on Sunday against the 19-0 University of Chicago. The Maroons will enter the showdown ranked #2 in the country.
