They were the scrappy little team that could. After losing three of their first four games of the season, no one thought that Washington University’s women’s basketball team (20-5, 12-2 UAA) would achieve the same accolades of past teams. Believing in themselves, the players were determined to prove critics wrong.

The team silenced any remaining critics once and for all Saturday, defeating the University of Chicago (18-7, 7-7 UAA) 80-75 in overtime of the regular season finale and earning the school’s 10th-straight and 17th-overall UAA title in the process. With the win, the squad also clinched the UAA’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

At the beginning of the day, the season looked like it would begin just as it had started – on a low note. The Maroons hit their first 3-point shot just 14 seconds into the game and held the lead for the next two minutes. The Bears took the lead at the 17:40 mark, but Chicago regained it 1:10 later.

UC remained on fire for the rest of the half. They ended the half on a 15-4 run over the last four-and-a-half minutes. Chicago’s shooting was unprecedented, as the Maroons hit 60 percent of their shots from the field, including 67 percent from the 3-point range on their way to a 42-29 lead at halftime.

“Their shooting was surreal,” said senior Rebecca Parker. “They could not miss. It did not matter what we were doing.”

After switching ends of the court, the Bears came out with newfound determination for the second stanza. They went on a 9-3 run to open the half and continued to close the 13-point deficit that had haunted them at halftime.

“We knew that they did not like pressure,” said Parker. “So we really tried to increase it in the second half.”

“We really turned up our defense,” added sophomore Jaimie McFarlin.

The Red and Green continued to close the gap throughout the second half. They ended the half on a 12-4 run over the final five minutes, tying up the score three times. Senior point guard Sarah Schell hit the final field goal of regulation with 47 seconds remaining to tie the game at 69 and force overtime.

In overtime, Wash. U. finally caught fire. Parker hit a trey 25 seconds into the period, giving the team its first lead since early in the game. From there, the Lady Bears never looked back. The Red and Green shot 60 percent from the field in OT and used stifling defense to limit Chicago to just 20 percent shooting.

The Bears came alive after the first half, as Parker scored 16 of her career-high 27 points and grabbed 11 of her career-high 20 rebounds after halftime. It was her 11th double-double of the season. Schell also scored most of her 26 points in the second half.

Despite foul trouble and only playing eight minutes in the first half, McFarlin also achieved her 10th double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds. When she fouled out in overtime, sophomore Halsey Ward was able to step up and fill her shoes.

“We were able to contest their 3s better in the second half and just played more aggressively,” said Schell.

On the Chicago side, junior Nofi Mojidi led the Maroons with 19 points. Senior Korry Schwanz also came up big with 14 points and sophomore Alex Leach added 11 in the first half. Freshman Anna Woods led post play will 11 rebounds.

Everyone, including players and fans, was exuberant after the contest. “Our seniors led the team today,” said head coach Nancy Fahey. “Jenny Southworth, who was honored for her dedication prior to the game, shut down Mojidi, Chicago’s best player. In the second half, Parker’s three in overtime was huge, and Schell was able to convert lots of opportunities.”

Even Chancellor Mark Wrighton got into the spirit in the second half, moving to the boisterous student section. “They were behind [by 15 points] and needed me,” he said after the game.

Overall, this win made the season even more gratifying after many felt it was a lost cause. “This win was really satisfying,” said Schell. “We faced lots of doubt and so many people felt we could not do this after losing key players from last season.”

“Every win just kept getting sweeter and sweeter and reflected our improvement over the course of the season,” added McFarlin.

The team will now begin preparing for the NCAA tournament, which begins next weekend. Pairings are set to be announced on Monday morning.

Popularity: 1% [?]

 Print This Post

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 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.