WALTHAM, Mass. - The seventh-ranked Washington University women's basketball team never trailed tonight, scoring the game's first eight points and never looking back, as the Bears defeated host Brandeis University, 50-37, in by far the lowest scoring contest of the season for both squads. Washington improves to 19-2, 9-1 in the University Athletic Association with the win, while Brandeis sees its four-game winning streak snapped and falls to 13-7, 6-4 in the UAA.
The host Judges could not get anything going offensively outside of senior star Jessica Chapin (Mendon, N.Y./Honeoye Falls-Lima). Chapin led the Judges with 13 points, hitting 6-of-13 from the field with a free throw. No other Brandeis player had more than four points, however. Rookie Shannon Ingram (Floral Park, N.Y./Floral Park Memorial) led the Judges with a career-high eight rebounds in 16 minutes off the bench. The Judges suffered their first loss in 13 games this season when holding an opponent under 60 points despite a 26-16 edge in points in the paint.
WashU put three starters in double figures. Senior Janice Evans (Bolingbrook, Ill./Nequa Valley) led all players with 12 points, hitting 6-of-10 from the floor. Grad student Jaimie Mcfarlin (Monroe, N.Y./Burke Catholic) and senior Zoe Unruh (San Francisco, Calif./St. Ignatius Prep) each had 10. Unruh also led all players with 10 rebounds for her second double-double of the season. Sophomore guard Bethany Morrison (Little Rock, Ark./Pulaski Acad.) had a game-high with six assists. The Bears enjoyed a 36-27 rebounding edge, including 12-7 on the offensive glass, that translated into a 13-2 advantage in second-chance points.
Evans scored six of the game's first eight points, and Brandeis was unable to break into the scoring column until Chapin his a jumper with more than four minutes elapsed off the clock. The Bears got their first double-digit lead on a lay-up by junior Hannah Cusworth (St. Charles, Mo./Mary Institute and CDS) made it 17-6 just over 10 minutes into the contest. A late Chapin free throw got the hosts within nine, 22-13, at halftime. The teams combined to shoot just 30.8 percent (16-52) in the first half with 19 turnovers.
WashU opened the second half on a 10-2 run, taking a 34-15 lead with 15:21 left in the contest and never looked back. The closest the Judges got the rest of the way was 12 points after a Mia DePalo (Rumson, N.J./Red Bank Catholic) 3-pointers with just under four minutes remaining on the clock.
Brandeis is back in action on Sunday at 2 p.m. when they host the University of Chicago, while WashU is at NYU at the same time.