The No. 16 WashU women’s basketball team opened conference play with a dominant victory 72-45 over No. 19 The University of Chicago. The win marked the start of WashU’s University Athletic Association (UAA) 14 game campaign.

With the No. 15 women’s team’s 93-35 win, and the No. 2 men’s team’s 107-57 victory later that night, WashU played its final basketball games against its neighbor Fontbonne, which will close after the 2024-25 academic year. Fontbonne’s gym and facilities will soon adorn WashU red and green, when WashU absorbs Fontbonne’s land into its campus over the summer. 

WashU now sits at 5-1 on the young season, and is ranked No. 11 in the D3Hoops.com poll for the second straight week. In the game against Illinois Wesleyan, the Bears have shown that they can contend with the best teams in Division III, but still lack a statement victory against a ranked opponent. 

With 47 seconds left in the game, first-year guard Ava Blagojevich converted a layup to score the Bears’ 115th point of the game and set a program record for points scored by WashU in a single game. The previous record stood for over 25 years, set in a 114-47 win against Beloit College in 1999. 

The No. 18 WashU women’s basketball team got off to a strong start in head coach Lisa Stone’s first games at the helm, winning the four-team Hyatt Place Tournament. The Bears defeated Edgewood College 78-58 on Nov. 15 and dominated Saint Mary’s College (Ind.) 99-40 on Nov. 16 in the tournament hosted by Augustana College in Rock Island, Ill.

When the No. 18 WashU women’s basketball team tips off its season on Nov. 15, it won’t just start a new season for the Bears. It’ll start a new era with coach Lisa Stone at the helm.  With two preseason All-Americans — graduate-student guard Jessica Brooks and sophomore center Lexy Harris — leading a deep lineup, Stone’s program, ranked 18th in the country in the preseason d3hoops.com poll, has the potential to run the table in 2024-25. 

Lisa Stone has been a basketball head coach for 36 years. When her 10-year run coaching Saint Louis University (SLU) ended in 2022, she wasn’t sure where her career would take her next.

While Henderson’s departure left questions about the program, the hire of a proven winner — Stone — sets the Bears up for an intriguing 2024-25 season.

“I just want the athletic department to listen,” said a former player. “It sends a really strong message to the rest of the people who are on the team that people are going through stuff, leaving, and nothing is going to change.” 

The team’s tournament run ended abruptly in the first round, however, as they fell to the University of Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils 71-61 on Mar. 1.