This weekend, the No. 3-ranked Washington University women’s basketball squad hosted a pair of games against fierce University Athletic Association (UAA) rivals, No. 10 New York University and No. 7 Brandeis University on Friday and Sunday, respectively. While the team fell to NYU in front of the large crowd of Wash. U. faithful, they defeated Brandeis to continue their season’s success. The Bears moved to 14-2 overall (4-1 UAA) with the two games this past weekend.

In a biannual clash between perennial superpowers, the Bears jumped out to an early lead against the NYU Violets on Friday. After the Bears went into the locker room at halftime down by five points, they battled back from a 14-point second-half deficit before ultimately losing the battle in the final seconds, falling 63-61.

While the NYU defense was tough, All-American senior captain Kelly Manning still scored 22 points and gathered nine rebounds in the losing effort. Senior Danielle Beehler had a solid game as well, earning her sixth double-double with her 13 points and 10 rebounds, while junior Sarah Schell added 12 points. After overcoming an abysmal 25 percent field goal shooting in the first half, the Bears were able to keep the game close until the very end.

Motivated by Friday’s loss, Brandeis proved no match for the purpose-driven Bears on Sunday. With a career-high 29 points from Beehler, on 12-of-18 field goal shooting and outstanding performances by three other Bears contributing double-doubles, the Judges fell 83-66. Manning had 14 points and 10 rebounds, freshman Shanna-Lei Dacanay added 14 points and 10 assists, and fellow freshman Jaimie McFarlin added 10 rebounds and 11 points. With 26 assists, the Bears scored 56 points in the paint alone. The defense was also solid, leading to 22 fast break points. After a close first half, the Bears shot a blistering 64 percent from the field in the second half to pull away.

For her performance this weekend, Beehler was named as a UAA Player of the Week along with junior Delaina Martin of indoor track and field and sophomore Meredith Nordbrock of women’s swimming and diving. Beehler averaged 19.5 points and 11.0 rebounds per game in the two UAA contests this weekend. On the season, Beehler is averaging 16.2 points and 7.9 rebounds per game, while shooting .599 from the field.

The Bears will try to add to their conference victories this Friday and Sunday against UAA rivals University of Rochester and Carnegie Mellon University at home. With a 4-1 record in the UAA, the Bears are in a three-way tie for the top and automatic post-season bid with NYU and this weekend’s opponent, No. 23 Rochester.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Wednesday, January 25th, 2006 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.