
The top-ranked Washington University women’s basketball team avenged last year’s loss to Fontbonne with a 95-65 drubbing of the Griffins in the WU Field House on Friday night.
The 30-point victory was led by senior Robin Lahargoue, who had a team-high 19 points to go along with 11 rebounds. After falling behind early in the game 7-2, the Bears rode the hot hand of junior Laura Crowley, who hit three consecutive three-pointers to spark a 31-7 Bears run. As sophomore Suzy Digby made two free throws as the half closed, the Bears extended their lead to 49-24.
Fontbonne, who beat the Bears last year to halt their consecutive win streak at 81 games, found themselves at the mercy of a bitter Bears team.
“Coach [Nancy Fahey] told us it was just another game, just as important as any other, but we were obviously still a little bitter about last year,” said Lahargoue. “We used that as fuel.”
Well the Bears had plenty of gas left in their tank as they capitalized on a 17-0 run in the second half to pull away. To break the game open in the second half, the Bears dominated the boards and shot the ball effectively. The defense held the Griffins to just 33 precent shooting from the floor, while the offense shot just under 50 percent. High-percentage shooting combined with a rebounding edge of 54-31 will almost always lead to lopsided victories.
A total of 12 Bears scored in the rout, including 12 points from Crowley, who went 3-5 from behind the arc. Suzy Digby was a spark off the bench as she chipped in 17 points and six rebounds. Kristi Eller also came off the bench to lead the Bears in assists with six. Starter Meg Sullivan also contributed eight points.
The only highlight on the Griffins side was senior Amy Hauschild. Hauschild led the Griffins with 31 points on 9-19 shooting. She also had eight rebounds.
The win on Friday night moves the Bears to 5-0, and no game has been closer than eight points.
“It’s nice to start clicking early in the season, but there is always room for improvement and we expect to be even better in the second semester,” said Lahargoue.
The Bears, who have won four straight national championships, seem poised for yet another run. Lahargoue said, “We don’t like to compare this year’s team to last year’s team, but we are really confident right now. It’s also hard to evaluate the rest of the field this early in the season, but we feel confident.”
To prevent overconfidence, the Bears will continue to work hard in practice, because that is where the toughest competition has come from this year. Out of their five wins this season, four have come by at least 15 points. Therefore, it is important that the Bears stay competitive in practice.
“Our toughest competition is when we play against each other in practice,” says Lahargoue. “Coach keeps us humble by instilling a humble philosophy into our system.”
It is early, but already the Bears are showing that they have not missed a beat since winning their fourth straight national championship. But before we skip three months to the 2002 national championship, let’s first see if someone can play them close.
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