The No. 17 Washington University women’s basketball team continued its strong surge toward the University Athletic Association title with blowout victories over No. 16 New York University and No. 24 Brandeis University.

With both wins, the Bears capped home-and-home sweeps of the Violets and the Judges after winning in Boston and New York last weekend. More importantly, Wash. U. kept stride with No. 3 University of Rochester atop the UAA standings at 8-1.

“We’ve really come together as a team. Instead of starting plays and running offenses, we’re playing basketball, and I think that’s the difference,” said forward Jaimie McFarlin, a senior and co-captain.

The Bears started off strong Friday night against NYU, taking an early 8-4 lead on a three-pointer from junior Zoë Unruh 2:39 into the game. The Violets responded to tie, and then took a five-point lead with 10:59 remaining in the first half on a layup by forward Jessica McEntee.

Wash. U. responded with a 14-9 run to end the first half with a 31-26 lead and did not trail for the remainder of the contest.

“Basketball is a game of runs. It’s how many runs you put at them and how many they put at you…You just got to expect NYU to run. You just have to withstand those runs,” Head Coach Nancy Fahey said.

The Red and Green, led by McFarlin, came out of the locker room and quickly put the game out of reach. McFarlin scored the team’s first eight points to extend the team’s lead to 10, and the supporting cast then took over.

By 8:16, the lead had grown to 20, and the team cruised to a 21-point victory.

McFarlin led the charge with 14 points and 10 rebounds while sophomore center Kelsey Robb added 10 points and nine boards. Senior point guard Shanna-Lei Dacanay also posted eight points and five assists.

“This time of year, it’s players making plays, and I think Jaimie McFarlin came out…and she kind of took over. But her teammates got her the ball, too,” Fahey said.

On Sunday, the Bears found themselves in a quick hole, with Brandeis leading 13-4 with 13:33 left in the first half. The Red and Green  responded with a 34-13 run to close the half, highlighted by 17 points from junior forward Janice Evans.

Evans led the team with 21 total points while Unruh and senior Halsey Ward each scored 11 points. Dacanay led the team with eight assists, and McFarlin grabbed a team-high nine rebounds as the Red and Green controlled the second half in a 71-56 win.

“I think we’re just working together. The big thing is just playing as a team. We’re all really well rounded in  scoring and rebounding. It’s just kind of a team thing,” Evans said.

Dubbed the toughest stretch of the season by many players, Wash. U. showed how focused it has been during recent play.

“We stayed composed. Both NYU and Brandeis came on strong, but we stayed together and didn’t let the pressure get to us,” Evans added.

“When you get to the end of January [and] beginning of February, those two weeks are crucial because you can’t talk about the postseason. You’re not in a position to talk about it…You have to concentrate on those two weeks because if you don’t, you won’t be talking about anything after those two,” Fahey said.

“Right now we have a second push…the people who came in right after me, they scored 12 in a row, and we pushed the lead to 20. So although I had a big game, it was really the second push that made such a difference,” McFarlin said of the team’s depth in Friday’s win.

UAA play continues next weekend with a Friday night contest at Emory University and a Sunday game at Case Western Reserve University. The Bears (16-4, 8-1 UAA) have won 12 of 13 games, and if both Wash. U. and Rochester (19-1, 8-1 UAA) continue to dominate the conference, they will meet in St. Louis on Feb. 22 to decide whether the Bears and Yellowjackets would play their final games of the season tied atop the UAA standings or if Rochester would take the lead, as Rochester has handed Wash. U. its only conference loss of the season.

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Tags: Women's Basketball

This entry was posted on Monday, February 9th, 2009 at 6:54 pm and is filed under Sports, Women's Basketball. You can follow any responses to this entry through this feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.