Undefeated and unparalleled across Division III, the women’s basketball team hit the road to compete in two University Athletic Association conference games at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland on Friday evening, followed by Emory University in Atlanta on Sunday afternoon. The Bears returned to St. Louis with two more victories to remain undefeated (14-0, 3-0 UAA) and will spend yet another week atop the Division III rankings, as compiled by d3hoops.com.

WU entered Friday’s game at CWRU (8-4, 1-1 UAA) with an impressive 19-0 all-time record against the Spartans. The Bears are also owners of a consecutive UAA win streak that, after this weekend, sits at 23 games.

At CWRU, senior guard Laura Crowley led the team in scoring with 18 points, while four other WU players contributed by also scoring in double digits. Freshman guard Kelly Manning added 15 points, six rebounds and two blocks, while senior forward Jen Rudis scored 15 points while shooting an impressive 7-8 from the field. Junior Lesley Hawley had 13 points and sophomore Hallie Hutchens had a game-high nine rebounds to accompany her 10 points. In addition, senior Diana Hill contributed a game-high seven assists.

Although the Bears began the game with an impressive 7-0 start, after trading runs throughout the first half, the score was knotted at 35 at halftime. Despite being out rebounded in the first half (23-20) and only connecting on a third of their free throws, the second half was a different story.

The WU defense was able to hold the Spartans under 40% shooting from the field, while the offense kicked in from behind the three point line, as the Bears hit 4-6 attempts, en route to a decisive 85-68 victory.

After departing Cleveland, the Bears flew south to take on the Eagles of Emory (7-5, 0-3 UAA). With an impressive 68-48 victory, the Bears not only extended another streak, winning their 28th consecutive road game, but also held their opponent under 50 points for the sixth time this season.

The Bears got off to a slow start, trading the lead with Emory several times throughout the first 10 minutes of play. However, at halftime the Bears held a commanding 36-23 lead and never looked back. The closest Emory got was within eight points after scoring on their first three possessions of the second half. The Bears responded offensively with a 17-2 run of their own coupled with the superb play of the defense, holding Emory to a dismal 25 percent shooting, and thus extending the score beyond the Eagles reach.

Hawley led the Bears with 12 points on 5-6 shooting and added three steals. Junior Suzy Digby was the only other WU player to score in double digits, hitting all of her free throws in a 10-point effort. The Bears’ bench was a big contributor, outscoring the Eagles’ bench 32-21. In addition, WU outscored Emory in the paint 40-20 and capitalized 18-2 on fast break points.

This Friday, the Bears return to action at 6 p.m. in the Fieldhouse where they will host the 11th-ranked team in the nation and UAA conference rival the University of Rochester Yellowjackets.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 21st, 2003 at 12:00 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.