Graduate student Jessica Brooks goes for a contested layup against UChicago on Jan. 11 (Sam Powers | Managing Photo Editor)

After starting the season with a record of 1-2 in University Athletic Association (UAA) play, which saw the Bears fall from No. 13 to unranked in Division III standings, the WashU women’s basketball team fought for two straight conference victories this past weekend. On Jan. 24, the Bears defeated the University of Rochester 86-76, and two days later, they traveled down to Atlanta, beating Emory University 67-56. WashU is now 3-2 in UAA play as they reach the halfway point of their two-month stretch of consecutive conference games.

Graduate student Jessica Brooks described the two big wins as “a turning point” in the Bears season.

“I think it was definitely a turning point … You know, being WashU, everyone wants to beat WashU no matter the sport, no matter the competition,” she said. “So I think we kind of made it a point that we weren’t going to keep this losing streak going.”

Against Rochester, the Bears displayed clinical shooting and strong defensive skills. The game was characterized by a strong first quarter, where WashU scored 39 of their 86 points.

After the game’s first points, scored by the Yellowjackets, the Bears grabbed the lead and never trailed once the rest of the game. While Rochester also enjoyed a high-scoring first quarter with 27 points, they were never able to significantly cut into the advantage the Bears built.

Head Coach Lisa Stone praised her team’s initiative from the very start.

“We just really had good pace, a great energy from the jump,” she said. “Defensively, we were locked in, and we’ve had a really good week of practice … That’s [the] best quarter of the year by far.”

While the Yellowjackets closed the scoreline down to a difference of seven in the fourth quarter, the Bears were able to not let their lead get any smaller than that. Sophomore center Lexy Harris led WashU in scoring with 21 points as well as in rebounds with 11, a statistic the Bears controlled 38-23. WashU’s defense limited Rochester to a field-goal percentage of 37.3%.

“I thought we did a good job of knowing our personnel and trying to make them do something they didn’t want to do, but [Rochester’s] a very well-coached team, and they hung around and threw a little pressure on us to play the game and try to make it close,” Stone said. “But we had enough.”

Two days later in Atlanta, the Bears had to fight a more closely contested battle that featured 15 lead changes. In the first half, neither team was able to extend their lead by more than five points, but the Bears went into halftime up 27-26.

“I think at halftime, Coach Stone came in and told us we had 13 turnovers, which is ridiculous and … we just can’t win games having that many turnovers,” Brooks said about the team’s first-half performance. “So I think that stat was a rude awakening, but a very honest one that we knew we could do a much better job at taking care of the ball, taking great shots.”

Going into the third quarter, the Bears took that next step. WashU began to establish a significant advantage, with two free throws from sophomore guard Alyssa Hughes to put the team up by nine points. However, by the end of the quarter, the Emory Eagles clawed back to finish even at 50-50. A pivotal fourth quarter started closely, with both teams trading points back and forth.

But with a little under four minutes remaining in the game, the Bears responded with a 9-0 run to see the game out. Capped off by a converted free throw by sophomore guard Catherine Goodwin, the team finished the game at 67-56, grinding out a big win.

“We just really, really defended and rebounded well. It was really fun to watch, to close out a game […] in the style and the way we did it,” Stone said about the win. “I mean, we had a lot of different people doing great things.”

With 19 points, Harris shared the lead in scoring for the Bears with Brooks. Brooks and junior forward Nailah McBeth combined for 33 rebounds, and while neither team had the most productive day offensively — with both teams shooting under 40% from the field — the Bears scored 36 points in the paint to the Eagles’ 24.

“I’ve never met a leader like Jessica Brooks. She leads on the court, leads off the court. She’s all-in as a fifth-year senior. It’s really impressive,” Stone said. “And Lexy draws a lot of attention and stays pretty level-headed. She gets doubled- and triple-teamed a lot of times.”

After this away conference trip, the Bears return home, looking to build further momentum in another duo of UAA games. They will take on Brandeis University on Jan. 31 in the annual HardyStrong game. Two days later on Feb 2, they’ll take on New York University for National Girls and Women in Sports Day.

Looking ahead, Brooks and the team remain focused on approaching their challenges one at a time.

“We don’t want to look too far ahead to postseason or anything like that, because we have to take care of Brandeis,” Brooks said. “After we take care of Brandeis, we’ll take care of NYU … and I think everyone has that mentality of, ‘It’s one practice at a time, one possession at a time.’”