With a pair of double-digit victories over the weekend, the No. 2 Washington University women’s basketball team finished undefeated in the Paul K. Knueppel Classic. The games were the final preparation before a likely matchup against top-ranked DePauw University next week.

The Bears defeated host Wisconsin Lutheran College 79-48 on Friday and Hiram College 79-61 on Saturday, putting their average margin of victory at 26.3 points early in the season.

Against Wisconsin Lutheran Friday night, the Bears turned a three-point lead into a 17-point margin with a 17-3 run in the first half, and Lutheran never again got within single digits. Junior forward Melissa Gilkey, a preseason All-American, led Wash. U. with 22 points and nine rebounds, and the team forced Lutheran into only 32.7 percent shooting and 21 turnovers.

The Bears are “continuing to pride ourselves on defense—that’s kind of what we’re anchoring ourselves on this year,” graduate forward Kristin Anda said. “As long as our defense is going to play consistent, our offense will follow.”

That belief proved true the very next night. The Red and Green started out slowly against Hiram, trailing by as many as eight points in the first five minutes, but adjusted on defense and forced the Terriers into a midgame slump during a 26-9 run that switched a two-point Wash. U. deficit into a 15-point lead.

Taking advantage of a size disparity, Wash. U. outrebounded Hiram 54-34 and grabbed 23 offensive boards, contributing to their 34-8 advantage in points in the paint. Gilkey led the team with 17 points and 11 rebounds, and senior forward Jordan Rettig added 16 and six, respectively.

“This weekend, we happened to have opponents where there strategy was to play behind in the post,” Gilkey said. “If they start stepping down in the post, then it opens up the shooting lanes for the guards and vice-versa, so it was more of just an adjustment as far as when we saw how they were playing defensively, we recognized that it was a good opportunity to go inside.”

While other top-25 lineups struggle to gel early in the season, Wash. U. has a year’s advantage on its peers because the team’s core is all returning players: the Bears’ top nine scorers this year were also the top nine scorers last season.

“We already know each other so well, and we’re just building upon last year right now,” Gilkey said. “We’re building upon our strengths and our chemistry that we established last year, and I think that to have those veterans and the environment where we’ve all been there before is pretty incredible.”

“When you’re a year older, you have another level of confidence,” Anda added. “You know what to expect, you know how to bounce back from adversity and you can just play with a lot more confidence in each other and not get rattled by another team.”

Although they have yet to experience adversity at the end of a game this season, the Bears might face the first such opportunity next weekend when they likely play at No. 1 DePauw University. DePauw, the team that eliminated Wash. U. in last year’s NCAA Division III Tournament, is the defending national champion and currently holds a 38-game winning streak but needed double overtime to defeat Centre College over the weekend. An early 1-versus-2 matchup would provide a significant hurdle for Wash. U. as it looks to continue its undefeated, untested start to the season.