In a weekend of high-scoring games, the Washington University women’s basketball team picked up two big wins against New York University and Brandeis and clinched the UAA regular season title, punching their ticket to the NCAA Division III basketball tournament this March.

Grace Bruton | Student Life

The Wash. U. bench celebrates a three-point shot by the Bears during their game against Brandeis Sunday afternoon. Wash. U. beat Brandeis 89-70, clinching a UAA championship.

The Bears started out their weekend on Friday against New York University. NYU, coming off of a win against Carnegie Mellon last Sunday, came into the game hoping to knock off a Wash. U. team that had won 11 of its last 12 games. The Bears knew their main objective had to be slowing down NYU’s Janean Cuffee, the top scorer in the UAA. The game started out with the Bears hitting the mark offensively, as they jumped out to a 20-12 lead in the first quarter. NYU would battle back with big second and third quarters, placing importance on the final quarter of play. The Bears turned up their play when it mattered most. Freshman forward Samantha Weaver came up huge for the Bears down the stretch, scoring nine of her 12 points in the fourth quarter to help the Bears regain the lead. From there, the Bears would successfully close the game out for their first victory of the weekend, and their 12th win in 13 games.

Senior forward Madeline Homoly had another great night, putting up a game-high 24 points. Both teams’ benches also came through in big ways, as NYU narrowly edged out the Bears 29-28 in bench scoring. Where the Bears separated themselves was offensive efficiency. Along with her 24 points, Homoly shot an impressive 10-15 (67 percent) from the field, with the team shooting nearly 50 percent from the field. Finally, the Bears won on a lot of the game’s hustle plays, out rebounding NYU 39-30, while also outscoring them in fast break points. Overall, this game was another good performance in the books for the Bears. While Cuffee did have 19 points, the Bears succeeded in slowing down NYU’s other offensive threats, helping the Bears to a 71-58 win.

Wash. U. was back in action on Sunday against Brandeis. The Bears came into this game in better spirits than their opponents, as Brandeis was looking to avenge an 85-68 loss to the University of Chicago on Friday. The Bears picked up another quality win against Brandeis, winning by a score of 89-70.

The game started off tight between the two teams, as both squads’ offenses came out firing. By the end of the first quarter of play, the Bears held a narrow 20-19 lead over Brandeis. However, the second and third quarter was all Wash. U. Helped by great offensive performances by senior guard Rachael Sondag and senior forward Stephanie Botkin, the Bears outscored Brandeis by a combined 53-29 for the second and third quarter.

What helped the Bears separate themselves was their three-point shooting. The Bears shot 42 percent from three to Brandeis’ 37.5 percent. During the Bears’ second quarter surge, Sondag shot 5-9 from beyond the arc, helping the Bears to establish a healthy lead. From there, they didn’t look back, as Wash. U. cruised to another impressive win.

Next weekend, the Bears will be at home for Senior Day, as they will play their last regular season game against No. 23 Chicago on Saturday, Feb. 23 at 1 p.m.