Bears take home hardware from Roundball Classic

Jeff Novack
Bernell Dorrough

The Washington University women’s basketball team rebounded from a tough loss to Johns Hopkins University to bring home the championship at the Saint Mary’s College Roundball Classic.

The Bears entered the tournament ranked ninth in the nation after suffering their first loss of the season to Johns Hopkins in the McWilliams Classic. In their first game of the tournament, the Bears faced off against Calvin College on Friday night. The Bears pounced on Calvin early to open a 16-2 lead in the first half. Washington University shot a scorching 61.5 percent from the field while limiting the opposition to a dismal 21.7 percent shooting on their way to a 41-20 halftime lead.

The Bears continued their offensive onslaught in the second half while outscoring Calvin 38-20 to win the game 79-40. Sophomore Kelly Manning paced the Bears with sixteen points while also adding seven rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Leading the Bears in all four of those statistical categories, it is little wonder that Manning did not see fit to add a partridge and a pear tree to her already impressive list of contributions to the game in this holiday season. Senior Lesley Hawley was second on the team with fifteen points while junior Hallie Hutchens chipped in thirteen points and six boards off the bench. For the game, the Bears out-rebounded Calvin 42-20 while forcing twenty turnovers.

Playing host St. Mary’s College in the finals, Washington University did not let down from its dominating performance in the opening round, defeating St. Mary’s 68-45. The Bears offense continued its assault on the nets by shooting 50.9 percent from the field. While the Bears’ opposition may have changed, the Bears defense was similarly stingy, holding Saint Mary’s to just 30.2 percent shooting. Though Washington University led nearly from wire to wire, St. Mary’s was able to cut the lead to seven on two separate occasions in the second half. The Bears responded the second time by putting the game out of reach for good by going on a 19-2 run to lead 65-38 with just 3:54 to play.

Against St Mary’s, Hutchens led the Bears with fifteen points while coming off the bench. She was among three Bears in double figures for the game as Lesley Hawley and freshman Rebecca Parker had twelve and eleven points respectively. Sophomore Danielle Beehler led the Bears on the glass with a game high nine rebounds. Parker’s eleven points represented a career high for her. Parker and Hutchens both contributed to the team’s defense with two blocked shots.

The Bears, now 6-1 on the season, will return to action on Tuesday, December 9 at 7pm with a home game against Maryville University.

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