After over 39 minutes of action, nothing separated the No. 7 Washington University and New York University women’s basketball teams. In spite of a put-back at the buzzer by senior Brianne Monahan that gave the Bears the lead, there was still no clear winner.

Despite some controversy, Wash. U. walked off the court at the Washington University Field House Sunday afternoon with a 51-49 victory.

With the game tied, freshman Alexandra Keane missed a three-pointer, but freshman Alyssa Johanson collected the offensive rebound, and head coach Nancy Fahey called a timeout with 12.3 seconds to play and 10 seconds on the shot clock.

Out of the timeout, senior Dani Hoover inbounded the ball to Keane, who drove into the lane before dishing it out to Monahan. With time on the shot clock winding down, Monahan stepped back, fired a three but appeared to miss the rim entirely. Freshman Maddy Scheppers collected the rebound and missed a layup, but Monahan followed up her miss and put back a layup as the buzzer went off.

After officials conferred with each other and both coaches, the game ended with a Wash. U. win despite the protests by the NYU bench.

“I still don’t really know what to think of that last play. I think I kind of blacked out a little bit,” Monahan said. “I don’t really know what happened; I don’t think anyone does. [I feel] kind of relieved and excited. It was a close game.”

The Bears overcame a poor shooting performance across the boards to steal a victory from the Violets. The Red and Green shot just 27.1 percent from the field, including 5-17 (29.4 percent) from behind the three-point line.

“NYU played incredibly well, intense, and really threw a lot of different combinations at us, so I was just happy that we were able to make that run in the second half when we put those kids in. It’s a tough game, one way or the other, winning and losing; it was a close game,” Fahey said.

Both teams limped into the half with NYU leading 21-20. Each committed 11 turnovers, and Wash. U. shot 29.6 percent from the field.

The Violets came out of the break firing, building their lead to six points (28-22) before Fahey went to her bench. Keane and Scheppers entered the game with 17:11 to play and never left.

“We needed to change the tempo of the game. We basically went to a little more speed because we had to extend our defense, and it helped us just take NYU out of their flow a little bit,” Fahey said.

NYU pushed its lead to as big as ten (35-25) with 14:02 left before the Bears began fighting back. Wash. U. went on a 14-4 run over the next five minutes to pull into a 39-39 tie. The teams went back and forth over the final nine minutes of action right up until the controversial finish.

Hoover finished with 13 points in the game, and Scheppers chipped in nine points and eight rebounds. Keane’s tenacious defense was key in turning around the game, and she finished with three points, six assists and four steals.

“I really think what made the difference was the group of five who came in, the full court pressure. That’s honestly what led us back, a lot of steals by a lot of freshmen,” Monahan said.

Against Brandeis University on Friday night, the Bears got scoring from 11 different players and pulled away late en route to a 69-42 blowout. Freshman forward Melissa Gilkey notched her first career double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds.

“I actually didn’t know I had a double-double. It feels good I guess,” Gilkey said. “Honestly, they were just fouling a lot, so it was pretty much all free throws. I wasn’t even making that many shots.”

The shooting was poor all-around as the Red and Green shot just 39.6 percent for the game; the starters were a combined 7-29 from the field, including Gilkey’s 1-10 night. However, the Bears shot 53.3 percent from behind the three-point line and sank 23 free throws thanks to 26 Brandeis fouls.

The first nine minutes were back and forth until, with 10:55 to play and Brandeis leading 13-12, Wash. U. went on a 10-0 run. Scheppers had a layup and a pair of free throws during the run, and senior Claire Schaeperkoetter capped it off with a three-pointer from the left wing. The Judges would never lead again as the Bears coasted into the half with a 33-26 lead.

Brandeis got as close as eight with 10:08 to play, but Wash. U. outscored the Judges 27-8 the rest of the way, including a 19-5 run in the final six minutes that put the game out of reach. The Red and Green bench scored 37 points, led by Scheppers and center Brianne Monahan with seven points each.

The road through the University Athletic Association gets tougher for the Bears next weekend as No. 5 University of Rochester comes to campus. The matchup of top-ten teams will tip off on Friday at 6 p.m., and Wash. U. will face Emory University on Sunday at 2 p.m.

“[We will] try to get better every day. Both teams play a very different style, so we are really going to have to put our nose to the grind and play hard,” Fahey said.