“The effort was there. We definitely wanted to do well, but I think it was all in the preparation. We need to work harder and [be] just a little more committed, that’s all,” head coach Kelly Stahlhuth said. “We kind of knew Rochester was a sleeper team, kind of a dark horse, so we weren’t over-confident. I think we went in mentally ready, but I don’t think we were as prepared as we could have been.”

Juniors Jaclyn Bild and Elise Sambol started the match against Rochester on a high note with an 8-2 win at second doubles, and senior Allison Dender and sophomore Natalie Tingir took third doubles 8-0. Freshman Kate Klein and junior Karina Kocemba were unable to complete the doubles sweep and fell 8-4 to Lia Weiner and Frances Tseng.

Because of rain, the matches were played indoors, but a court reservation error allowed Rochester to regroup and come away with the upset.

After winning the opening set 6-4, Klein took a 5-4 lead on Weiner when play was suspended since another group had reserved the courts for the next two hours. When play resumed, Weiner evened the set, won the tiebreaker 9-7 and clamped down to win the third set 6-1. The delay also postponed Bild’s match before the start of the third set, and Bild wound up losing the match 6-3, 3-6, 4-6.

“You could kind of tell Rochester knew that they had us where they wanted us,” Stahlhuth said. “The last sets just didn’t go the right way.”

Junior Kalee Cassady also won the first set in fifth singles before eventually falling 7-5, 5-7, 2-6. At second singles, Tseng pushed past Kocemba 6-4, 6-1.

On a bright note for the Bears, Tingir and Dender continued their dominant play during singles competition, taking fourth and sixth singles 6-2, 6-2 and 6-0, 6-1, respectively.

Placed in the consolation bracket following the loss on Friday afternoon, the Bears rallied to finish fifth in the eight-team tournament.

The Bears rebounded to win the consolation bracket. Wash. U. opened with a 6-3 victory over NYU, with the only losses coming at first doubles and second and third singles. Both singles matches came down to super-tiebreakers, but Kocemba and Bild fell 9-11 and 5-10 in respectively.

“I don’t think it [losing to Rochester] put any additional pressure on Saturday’s matches,” said Dender, the team captain. “They were two teams that were ranked behind us. We went out there the same way and had to bounce back after a tough loss, and I think we did a good job.”

Tingir and Dender continued to dominate their opponents, teaming up for an 8-3 win at third doubles and winning their singles matches 6-1, 6-3 and 6-1, 6-0, respectively.

Klein rebounded to take first singles 6-1, 6-4, and Cassady won at fifth singles in the minimum 12 games, defeating Tiffany Thong 6-0, 6-0.

The Red and Green continued to play well against Brandeis, losing just first doubles in the 6-1 win. Second and fourth singles went unfinished.

“They knew that we were kind of hurt [our pride] and thought that they had a pretty good chance of getting us…but we made sure we did it one more time,” Stahlhuth added.

Bild finally broke into the winning column in singles by taking the clinching match 6-0, 6-2 at third singles. Klein, Tingir and Dender each recorded singles wins, and, as with the doubles play all weekend, the teams of Bild/Sambol and Tingir/Dender recorded victories.

The Bears conclude the season at 3:30 p.m. Friday against McKendree University at the Tao Tennis Center and will then train in anticipation of making the NCAA tournament.

“We hope one bad loss doesn’t hurt us, and it could…We’re hoping that they’ll recognize that one day doesn’t make or break a season, but a lot of people do judge it that way,” Stahlhuth said.

NCAA tournament bids will be announced on May 10.

Senior Zoë Unruh, seen here in a Nov. 29 game against Rhodes College, led the Lady Bears to a 67-57 victory against Brandeis University on Friday. With seven wins over winter break, the team improved to 13-1 on the season and extended its win streak to 11. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

After a strong showing in its non-conference play, the No. 3 Washington University women’s basketball team began University Athletic Association play on the right note, taking out its first three opponents to run its season record to 13-1.

The Bears opened UAA play on Jan. 9 with a strangling 63-34 win against the University of Chicago, and followed up the next weekend with a 67-57 win against Brandeis University on Jan. 15 and a 70-50 win against New York University on Jan. 17.

The wins added to a streak that currently stands at 11 straight for the team.

“Having a good start in UAA is crucial, so it was really big that we took these three games,” senior Zoë Unruh said.

In the first game, the Bears’ defense locked down Chicago, forcing 29 turnovers and holding the visiting Maroons to a 22-percent field goal percentage. Graduate student Jaimie McFarlin led the way, recording eight rebounds, five blocks and three steals in addition to her 14 points.

Against Brandeis, five different players scored in double figures for the Bears, who jumped ahead 8-0 to start the game and never looked back. Unruh was the leading scorer with 15 points, while McFarlin added 13 and senior Janice Evans pitched in 12.

Wash. U. relied on another strong defensive effort against NYU. Midway through the first half, the Violets were held to a scoreless seven-minute stretch, helping the Bears jump ahead en route to another win in their final contest of the weekend.

“However you start, you want to be playing to your potential,” head coach Nancy Fahey said. “I think we all knew we should have a good start. We were trying to live up to some expectations, and that led to the kind of play we’ve been producing lately.

The Bears took advantage of 24 offensive rebounds, leading to 23 second-chance points. McFarlin’s double-double, with 12 points and 10 rebounds, was a key part of the team’s victory.

“Considering that NYU is one of the best rebounding teams in the UAA, it’s very helpful,” Evans said. “We knew we needed to beat them on the boards, and we did.”

The Bears will take their show on the road for the next four games. They face Case Western Reserve University on Friday, Jan. 22, in Cleveland, and Carnegie Mellon University on Sunday, Jan. 24, in Pittsburgh.

“We need to go on the road. It’s time,” Fahey said. “We need to experience a hostile environment. We need to prove that we can do it in different venues.”

The No. 16 women’s team (14-4, 6-1 UAA) will rematch No. 15 NYU (16-2, 5-2 UAA) tonight at 6 p.m., five days after the Bears defeated the then-No. 8 ranked Violets 63-53. Sophomore Kathryn Berger posted a team-high 11 points in the victory, the 10th win for the Bears in their past 11 games.

During halftime of the women’s game, the 2008 Washington University Sports Hall of Fame class will be recognized. Ten of the newest inductees are former student-athletes, including Tasha Rodgers, a member of all four women’s basketball NCAA National Championship teams from 1998-2001, and Kevin Folkl, the men’s basketball team’s ninth all-time leading scorer and career leader in field goal percentage.

Also being inducted are two Distinguished Service Honorees, Hord Hardin (’35) and W. Edward Lansche (’48), bringing the total in the Hall of Fame to 132.

The men’s basketball team, ranked No. 2 in Division III nationally (17-1, 7-0 UAA), will then play NYU (13-5, 2-5 UAA) at 8 p.m. Junior guard Aaron Thompson will look to continue his hot streak, having scored 29 points in Sunday’s 67-56 win. Thompson is averaging 18.6 points per game for the season and has led the Bears in scoring the past five games.

The St. Louis Rams cheerleaders will perform during halftime of the men’s game and will be signing autographs after the game.

“[The Rams cheerleaders] actually contacted us and wanted to come perform at Wash. U., and they’re actually tied in with somebody who is affiliated with [the University],” said Trevor MacDonald, director of marketing and external relations for Washington University Athletics.

Tonight is also Eliot Night, where many of the contributors to University and athletic funding are invited to attend both games and a dinner beforehand.

Trying to remain perfect in UAA conference play, the men will play Brandeis University on Sunday at noon. Brandeis (12-6, 5-2 UAA) is the No. 2 team in the UAA and will be looking for revenge after a close 80-75 loss on Friday, Jan. 30 in which the Judges gave up the most points they had all season.

Despite having four players score in double figures, the Judges were bested by Wash. U.’s balanced offense and Thompson’s 18 points.

“Rematch games are always a little bit harder, especially offensively, because the other team gets to make defense adjustments. But if you flip that around, we get to make defensive adjustments also,” junior forward Cameron Smith said. “Every game in the UAA is going to be a dogfight, and Brandeis is one of the better teams [in the conference] this year, and we know they’re going to come to play on Sunday.”

Sunday, Feb. 8 is the second annual Youth Day, featuring free autographs from all of the basketball players, face painting, J.J. Jumper (the NCAA mascot), giveaways and much more youth-centered programming.

“We’ve done a lot of clinics throughout the year where kids keep coming back because they need a Sean Wallis or a Tyler Nading, and they want to come back and see them play and say hello to them. I think it’s nice to see the kids come out and get to see their idols play, and meet them and get their autographs,” MacDonald said.

At 2 p.m., the women take the court in another tough battle against No. 24 Brandeis (13-4, 3-4 UAA). Last weekend, the Bears defeated Brandeis 61-55 in a come-from-behind victory.

This weekend’s women’s games are of added importance given how close the UAA standings currently are. Wash. U. and No. 3 Rochester are tied atop the conference at 6-1 while NYU is only one game behind at 5-2. Rochester will face Emory and Case Western Reserve University this weekend, both of whom are 2-5 in conference play while Brandeis and NYU will also face the University of Chicago (13-5, 4-3 UAA) this weekend.

Brandeis University is closing its art museum in an effort to alleviate some of the stress placed on the liberal arts school by the economic crisis. There appears to be no evidence, however, that the University will follow a similar path.

“We will definitely not go the route Brandeis University is going,” said Sabine Eckmann, director and chief curator of Kemper Art Museum. “Something like that will not happen here. We would never sell art in order to help other areas.”

Eckmann said she believes that selling art and closing an art museum would be a last resort.

“All museums were hit by the economic crisis,” Eckmann said. “In general, museums are losing their status as an accredited institution if they sell art. There are a couple museums who already have had to lay off staff and cut exhibitions.”

Art Council (ArtC) President Jenny Murphy, a junior, said she believes that closing Kemper would be devastating for cultural education on campus.

“It sends a really clear message to all the students of how [the University] values what they’re doing as a commodity,” Murphy said. “I would be really disturbed if that happened here.”

Eckmann agrees that the effects of losing an art museum would be detrimental to an institution of higher education.

“I think it’s a horrible idea because this is something they will never be able to get back. It’s horrible to lose art and culture to solve a financial crisis,” Eckmann said. “If we get rid of art and culture in order to make some financial advances, it [would not] reflect well on us.”

Those in the artistic community here believe that Kemper is vital to the education of many on campus. All art students, for instance, are required to take 15 credits of art history courses at the University.

“When studying art in class, to be able to see it is such a valuable experience,” Murphy said.

In response to the discussion that has arisen from Brandeis University’s decision, Controversy N’ Coffee will be hosting a discussion on the role of arts in education on Monday, Feb. 16, from 7 to 8:30 p.m. in Danforth University Center, room 276.

Eckmann said that Kemper is financially secure despite the crisis.

“So far nothing has been cut. We have full support of the University administration for the museum. So far we’re doing okay,” Eckmann said. “But we are always funding our own exhibitions, in addition to the University’s funds through grants and sponsors like other museums.”

Although Eckmann acknowledged the uncertainty of the economy, she remains optimistic that the Kemper Art Museum will remain unaffected.
“We’re in a situation where we don’t really know what will happen, so we’ll just have to see what will happen in the next few years,” Eckmann said. “So far we’re good. We’re lucky.”

“To get these wins was pretty big for the UAA title. With Rochester getting wins this weekend, it was important for us to stay close,” senior co-captain Jaimie McFarlin said.

Trailing for most of the first half, but never by more than eight points, Wash. U. took its first lead with 2:01 remaining in the first half on a three-pointer by senior guard Halsey Ward. Ward’s three made the score 24-23, and from this point, Wash. U. took the advantage with a 7-2 run to end the first half ahead 31-25.

Brandeis fought back in the second half to take the lead 41-40 with 9:48 remaining in the game. Not phased, the Red and Green retook and held the lead for the remainder of the game after a layup by McFarlin made the score 42-41.

McFarlin led the team with 11 points and eight rebounds while Ward also added a team-high 11 points off the bench. Senior Jill Brandt and sophomore Kelsey Robb scored the next-highest point total with eight each while all 11 Bears who saw action scored at least two points.

Neither team shot particularly well in the win, but the 43.8 percent shooting clip attained by Wash. U. was significantly better than the 34.5 percent shooting by Brandeis.

The Bears’ depth, which may have hampered the team earlier in the season since the player rotation had not been finalized, is now proving to be one of the team’s greatest assets. While Brandeis guard Jessica Chapin and forward Lauren Orlando were the game’s top scorers with 18 and 13 points respectively, the Brandeis bench scored only six points compared to 30 from Wash. U. The Red and Green also came back from poor starts in each game.

“Although we don’t like to come from behind and rather come out in the first five minutes on top, our shooters keep shooting, and we have a lot of different weapons we can go to…Although we have our go-to players, at the same time, we have a lot of different weapons,” McFarlin added.

Wash. U. and NYU struggled to score on Sunday as neither team eclipsed the 30-point mark in the first. Wash. U. grabbed its first lead with 12:38 left in the first half after a Kathryn Berger jumper made the score 10-8. NYU bounced back to take a 19-18 lead with 6:03 left in the first half, but a Jill Brandt three-pointer at the 4:26 mark gave Wash. U. a 22-20 lead, which the team then extended to 28-20 heading into the locker room.

Both teams shot better in the second half, and while NYU closed to within two points three times, Wash. U. never surrendered the lead. The Bears narrowly outscored the Violets 35-33 in the second half to take the game by ten.

Berger led the team with 11 points, followed by junior Janice Evans, Brandt and sophomore Kelsey Robb, all of whom scored nine points. Evans also led the team with 11 rebounds.

The Wash. U. defense played one of its best games of the year, only allowing NYU’s senior All-American Jessica McEntee to score in double figures. However, her game-high 16 points is below her conference play average of 19 points per game and is the first time in four games that she failed to score 20 points.

Wash. U. was especially careful with the basketball against NYU, only turning the ball over nine times compared to 19 by the Violets.

Wash. U. returns home on Friday to host NYU at 6 p.m., followed by a rematch with Brandeis Sunday at 2.

“Any team coming off a loss is going to have a fire in their eye…We’re all going to make adjustments. [It’s going to be] the team that adjusts fastest and really plays the best basketball next weekend,” McFarlin said.

Wash. U. defeated Brandeis 80-75 on Friday night in Waltham, Mass. and then knocked off NYU 67-56 on Sunday afternoon in New York City.

Five Bears scored in double figures against Brandeis, which entered the game allowing a UAA-low 62.2 points per game. A week after being named UAA athlete of the week, junior guard Aaron Thompson led all scorers with 18 points and junior forward Cameron Smith tied a career-high with 15 points on 6-6 shooting from the field. Senior forward Tyler Nading and freshman forward Alex Toth also scored in double figures with 12 and 11 points respectively while senior guard Sean Wallis posted his fourth double-double of the year with 12 points and a game-high 11 assists.

The 80 points were the most Brandeis has allowed all season.

“When we got our shots, we knocked ’em down,” Smith said. “When you play against a good team, you have to make open shots and we did.”

The teams traded buckets early in the first half before Wash. U. went on an 11-1 run to jump ahead 22-12. A layup by Toth with 3:41 left put the Bears up 35-26, but a three-pointer from Kevin Olson and a layup by Andrew Magee cut the Bears’ halftime lead to 37-33.

The Red and Green began the second half by hitting 10 of 16 shots, but the Judges hung in the game. Thompson put Wash. U. up 61-50 at the halfway mark of the period with a deep three-pointer and then a 15-footer, but Olson nailed two threes and Andre Roberson added another to trim the lead to 63-59 with 7:44 remaining.

Wash. U. led 71-63 with 4:29 left when a Brandeis dancer was injured during a time-out, delaying the game for 30 minutes. The Bears struggled after the bizarre incident, and Brandeis scored five straight points to cut the lead to 71-68.

“[The break] definitely changed the whole feel of the game, because the last four and a half minutes were just bizarre. It was almost like starting a new game because you never wait 30 minutes during games,” Smith said. “It was one of the weirdest things I’ve ever been a part of in a basketball game.”

Wash. U. was able to regain its composure after the brief Brandeis run when Smith hit a three-pointer in the corner with 2:33 left to put the team up 74-68. Wallis and Thompson then went 6-6 from the free-throw line collectively down the stretch to seal the victory.

Against NYU on Sunday, Thompson led the way for the Bears by pouring in 29 points on 9-19 shooting, including 5 of 9 from three-point range. It was the sixth time Thompson has scored at least 20 points in a game this season and his third-highest total of the year.

The rest of the team struggled offensively, as the Bears shot just 39.6 percent from the field for the game and 1 for 5 from three-point range in the second half.

It was the Wash. U. defense that ensured another victory, holding NYU to 44.4 percent shooting and forcing 17 turnovers. The Bears also outscored NYU 20-12 in points off turnovers and 16-0 in second-chance points.

“They were really physical, and on a Sunday after two weekends of travel, it’s kind of tough to get up for that Sunday game. But we started getting some shots to go and then pretty much just controlled the boards and defensively really handled them,” Thompson said.

The Bears started slow, missing their first seven shots from the field and falling behind 9-0. Back-to-back three-pointers by Thompson ignited an astonishing 28-3 Wash. U. run. During the run, the Bears hit six three-pointers, including five from Thompson, and held NYU without a field goal for nearly nine minutes.

“A.T. [Thompson] was the catalyst today,” Smith said. “We were not putting the ball in the hole, and then A.T. hits five threes…and all of a sudden you look up at the board and its 28-12.”

Wash. U. entered halftime leading 34-25 and built the lead to 42-31 to start the second half before D.J. Glavan got the Violets back into the game by rattling off seven straight points. NYU got as close as 54-50, but did not score in the final 1:58 of the game as the Bears sealed the victory on a Wallis three-pointer and free throws by Wallis and Thompson.

Wash. U. will begin the second half of conference play by returning home to face these teams again. The Bears play NYU on Friday at 8 p.m. and then square off against Brandeis on Sunday at noon.

No. 11 Washington University women’s soccer improved to 11-2-1 (4-0 UAA) on the season with conference wins on Friday against New York University and Sunday against Brandeis University. The team currently has a five-game winning streak.

Freshman phenom Lee Ann Felder netted the game-winning goal in the 84th minute to beat Brandeis 2-1 and keep the Bears on top of the UAA rankings. The goal was Felder’s team-leading sixth of the season. She also leads the team in points with 14 on the season.

While the midfield play against the Judges was again underwhelming, the team still came out slugging, outshooting Brandeis 7-2 in the first half. The Red and Green took a 1-0 lead into the break when a pair of freshmen midfielders combined to break the tie. Freshman Emma Brown got the assist as classmate Rachel Haas took advantage of a loose ball in front of the net and scored her first collegiate goal.

In the second half, the Judges tied the score in the 73rd minute. The gamed seemed destined for overtime until Felder scored on a gorgeous pass from senior midfielder Caitlin Malone. Felder dove and made contact with the ball, punching it into the back of the net.

“Lee Ann’s goal was amazing,” junior back Cassie Scaman said. “Even though we didn’t play to our capabilities, we still came out with a win, so that definitely says something about the character of our team.”

Friday’s game against New York University played out in very much the same format. Senior Jenny Philip netted her second goal of the season in the 35th minute as she one-timed a cross from Brown. The Violets went on to tie the game in the 60th minute.

With the pressure on, Malone sent a ball into the far corner of the net with Brown again assisting. The goal was the 18th of Malone’s career, moving her into 10th place on the all-time goals scored list. The goal was also the 10th game-winner of her career, good enough for fourth place on the all-time list.

“We remain undefeated, which was our overall goal for the weekend,” junior forward Caryn Rosoff said. After winning both weekend games, the team holds a one-game lead in the UAA over No. 18 Emory University.

“Winning the UAA would be huge since it would give us an automatic bid to the [NCAA Tournament]…we definitely have a target on our back. It’s easy to get complacent because we’re on the top,” Rosoff said.

The Lady Bears continue their UAA campaign on Oct. 31 at Rochester. The Bears finish off their four-game homestand against 10th-ranked Rhodes College on Saturday, Oct. 25 at 9:30 a.m.

“That Emory game is always a tough game on our schedule, but to rebound and get these two big wins in conference really sets us up for the rest of the year,” senior co-captain Kevin Brege said.

Wash. U. jumped out to an early lead against NYU when freshman Patrick McLean scored just 33 seconds into the game. McLean, making his first career start while filling in for injured forward Harry Beddo, one-timed a pass from senior Pierre Hoppenot to put the Red and Green up 1-0. The goal was the first of McLean’s career and came in his sixth game for the Red and Green.

“[McLean] is more than a fill-in even if Harry is here,” Head Coach Joe Clarke said. “Pat McLean is going to be a special player in his time at Washington U.”

Wash. U. remained ahead until the 76th minute, when NYU junior Brandon Hintz sent a cross into the box that freshman Badr Bevaart headed in to tie the score at 1-1.

The Bears prevailed when junior Nat Zenner scored just 2:38 into the first overtime period. Off a free kick, junior Nick Karr lofted a pass into the NYU box that found its way through goalkeeper Mark Urbanski’s hands to Zenner, who sent it to the far corner for the game-winner.

“It was a great result for us,” co-captain Marshall Plow said. “We knew they like to push up hard and put a lot of pressure on teams from the game tape, so we managed in the first minute of the game to just capitalize on their flat defensive players and get behind them. It was great coaching by Joe.”

Wash. U. also got on the board early against Brandeis on Sunday. In the 11th minute of the game, sophomore Nick Wilbar struck a low cross that found senior Cliff Goldkind at the top of the Judges’ box. Goldkind buried a shot from 20 yards out past goalkeeper Sean O’Hare to give the Bears a 1-0 advantage.

Junior John Hengel added to the Bears’ lead in the 33rd minute when Brandeis turned the ball over on a goal kick, and Hengel netted a goal on a breakaway. The goal was Hengel’s team-leading seventh of the year.

Brandeis gained momentum in the second half and cut Wash. U.’s lead to 2-1 in the 55th minute when junior Jaime Batista scored on a give-and-go with junior Bill Murphy. However, the Bears’ defense managed to keep Brandeis off the board the rest of the way to hold on to another 2-1 victory.

“I thought we came out really well in the first half,” Brege said. “We came out really strong. We had a lot of new faces in the starting lineup, and we came out really hard. Then, in the second half, we kind of came out a little lackadaisically, the moment shifted a little bit, but we did a good job of battling through.”

The wins put the Red and Green record to 10-3 overall and 3-1 in the UAA. The Bears are tied for second in the UAA with the University of Rochester and trail first-place Emory by three points with three games to play in conference.

“I couldn’t be happier with where we are right now,” Clarke said. “We’re having to battle a lot of injuries, and we’re having to move players aroundÉWe’re doing the best we can.”

Wash. U. returns to action on Friday at 7:30 p.m. against Dominican University at Francis Field. Dominican enters the game on an 11-game winning streak and is 13-2 overall.