This weekend the Washington University women’s basketball team proved it can adjust to any style of play.
First, the top-ranked Bears responded to the pressure of a long-standing rivalry against number-three New York University. This Friday, both teams entered the contest at the Field House 14-0 and 3-0 in the University Athletic Association, and the Bears prevailed in a slow-moving slugfest by a score of 57-47.
Then, on Sunday, WU had some fun running and gunning with Brandeis University in a 92-60 win. The women improved to 16-0 and 5-0 in the UAA, while also extending their home winning streak to 66 games. The last time the Bears lost at home was over five years ago, to none other than NYU.
As expected, both teams relied on defensive pressure Friday.
“Defensively we had to be on top of things,” said junior forward Jen Rudis. “And on offense, they were up in our shorts making us work to get open and look for ball movement. They’re feisty. They’ll knock you around”
Junior forward Meg Sullivan hit a three-pointer to put the Bears on the board first with 17:26 on the clock. But the NYU Violets also turned to perimeter shooting to cut an 8-point deficit to one, 14-13, with 5:29 left in the half.
The Bears then scored ten of twelve points to extend their lead to nine and headed off the court with the 24-15 advantage. However, NYU had held the top scoring team in Division III to its lowest first half total of the season.
“NYU tried to delay,” said WU head coach Nancy Fahey. “They shot within the last ten seconds of the shot-clock. That’s going to slow a ballgame down, so that’s why the point total was so low.”
WU saw its lead dwindle as the Violets pulled within four to open the second half. Senior captain Kristi Eller then sank three buckets from the foul line and assisted a smooth jumper by sophomore Leslie Hawley, with 12:38 to play. Having regained a nine-point lead, 31-22, the Bears heard loud cheers of approval from all the green and red fans among the 1714 boisterous spectators.
Meanwhile, NYU called for a full timeout. They responded with an 8-1 run, only to be matched again by a 9-2 WU run.
In the final minute, Rudis later broke away to drive in for a lay-up, but a rough foul took her to the floor. After tempers were calmed, Rudis calmly knocked down the two free throws to establish a 12-point edge for WU.
A Laura Crowley free throw in the final seconds finalized the scoring and sealed the 57-47 victory for the Bears.
Crowley led the team with 13 points with Rudis finishing with 12 and a game-high nine rebounds and Eller adding 10 points of her own.
WU doubled NYU’s points in the paint, nearly doubled their bench points and scored 25 points off Violet turnovers.
“I can’t even describe what it feels like playing NYU because of the rivalry,” said Rudis. “It was such a classic feeling and such a sweet win for our team.”
In search of another sweet victory against Brandeis Sunday, the Bears were able to execute their offense easier, running and penetrating the defense to work the ball inside more often.
“They came out and ran,” said Fahey. “We ran. We had similar styles so it was fun to get out and just play some hoops.”
Brandeis found an early four-point lead until Sullivan put the Bears on the board with a three. Within six minutes, Sullivan and Crowley each nailed three three-pointers apiece to help the Bears to jump to a commanding 18-4 lead.
“It was a great opening statement for the game,” said Rudis. “They were just nailing it left and right.”
Over the next eight minutes freshman Hallie Hutchens, stepping in for the injured Robin Lahargoue, established herself with 11 points and gave the Bears some vital inside scoring punch.
Soon after, Eller assisted a set of threes and junior Diana Hill completed a 10-0 run with a layup to put the Bears up by 25. Having shot 54.5% from the field, the Bears lead 47-24 at the half.
In the second half, Sullivan connected on another pair of threes, and junior Allison Randle added one of her own. Then, with 1:50 remaining, Fahey called upon the bench. With three freshmen on the floor, Leslie Berger threw to Nicole Wylie for the jumper and made a steal and behind-the-back pass to Anna Johnson for the layup. Then, Berger stole again and assisted sophomore Lindsay Williamson with yet another three, with 00:03 remaining.
Williamson’s bucket gave the team a new record of 12 three-pointers in a single game and drove the winning score to 92-60 with a capital W.
With fifteen players scoring, the Bears took the idea of balance to a new level.
“The depth of our bench as a whole is why we do so well,” said Rudis. “[Our bench] allows us to really wear other teams down.”
The stats prove the story in this case, as WU had 54 bench points compared to just 11 for Brandeis.
Sullivan had a season-high 17 points in the contest and Hutchens tallied a career-high 13 points on 5-5 shooting and 7 rebounds. Hill and Rudis each added ten points. Also, Eller’s career-high 12 assists left her one shy of the all-time school record.
With the Bears’ aggressive defense, accurate shooting and depth in all other areas, it may come as no surprise that the women were able to adapt to two distinct styles of play and continue their steak of success.

contact Renee at [email protected]

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