Men's Basketball | Sports | Women's Basketball
Men’s and women’s basketball upset in second round of tournament
It was a disappointing two hours for Washington University basketball as both the No. 2 men’s team and No. 5 women’s team lost in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament Friday night.
Both teams were favored to advance, but slow starts and foul trouble in the front court plagued the Bears. The men fell 83-75 at home against No. 24 Calvin College while the women lost 72-66 against the No. 12 University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
Each team finished the season with a record of 24-3 and a University Athletic Association title, but the premature losses put a sour end to otherwise successful seasons.
The men trailed for most of their game, with senior forward Chris Klimek and junior forward Matt Palucki each sitting on the bench for lengthy periods of the first half due to foul trouble. Senior guard Alan Aboona scored 26 points in his final collegiate game, making seven of 16 three-point attempts, but the Bears shot only 41.8 percent from the field and made just seven of 17 free throws.
A four-point play from Aboona cut the Knights’ lead to four with 4:36 remaining, but a Calvin three-pointer on the ensuing possession—their eighth of the contest—prevented the Bears from making it a one-possession game. The Knights shot 51.7 percent overall and had three guards score in double figures.
It was the fourth straight tournament appearance for the men that ended in a second-round loss.
For the women, a close game turned into an early 16-point Oshkosh lead with the Bears’ top front-court players all in foul trouble, and the host Titans took a 10-point advantage into halftime. Wash. U. shot just 31 percent in the first half—compared to Oshkosh’s even 50—and didn’t make a three-pointer for the first 25 minutes of the game.
Junior forward Melissa Gilkey scored 17 of her game-high 21 points in the second half and the Bears spent that half slashing the lead, but Oshkosh had an answer each time and never allowed the Red and Green to tie the game. After a Wash. U. layup cut the lead to four with 2:19 left, the Titans scored six straight points to seal the game and advance to the third round of the tournament.
After making the national championship game four times in five seasons from 2007-2011, the women have failed to advance past the third round since.