February 24, 2007

Washington Rallies to Defeat Chicago in O.T.

ST. LOUIS, Mo. -- Led by Rebecca Parker's 27 points and 20 rebounds, 10th-ranked Washington (Mo.) University overcame a 13-point halftime deficit en route to an 80-75 overtime win over the 25th-ranked University of Chicago in University Athletic Association women's basketball action on Saturday.

The victory gave Washington (20-5 overall, 12-2 UAA) an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III tournament as the 2007 UAA champion.

Chicago concluded the regular season at 18-7 overall (7-7 UAA) to remain in contention for an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III tournament. The NCAA is scheduled to announce the complete bracket on Monday morning.

Sparked by sophomore Alex Leach (Gurnee, Ill./ Warren), who scored all 11 of her points in the first stanza, Chicago opened up a 42-29 advantage at the break. The Maroons shot 59% from the field and held the Bears to a 29% clip in the game's first 20 minutes.

The Maroons held their last double-digit lead, 50-40, with 13:31 left in the second half. Washington then went on an 11-4 run to trim the deficit to 54-51 at the 9:43 mark.

Freshman Jaime Stinson's (Topeka, Kan./ Shawnee Heights) basket with 5:29 left in regulation gave Chicago a 65-58 lead, but the Bears scored the next seven points to tie the game at the 3:35 mark.

Senior Korry Schwanz (Menominee, Mich./ Menominee), who entered the contest as the most accurate free throw shooter in the NCAA Division III, hit a pair of foul shots with 1:11 on the clock to put Chicago on top 69-67.

Schwanz, who finished with 14 points, was 4-for-4 from the line to finish the regular season with a .932 free throw percentage.

Sarah Schell's basket with 47 seconds left in the second period tied the score at 69-69 and sent the game into overtime.

Schell then scored seven of the Bears' 11 points in the extra session to finish the day with 26 points.

After a basket by freshman Molly Hackney (East Lansing, Mich./ Lansing Catholic) gave the Maroons a 73-72 edge with 2:58 left in overtime, Schell converted a three-point play to put Washington ahead to stay, 75-73, just 18 seconds later.

Schell added four points in the final minute as the Bears defeated the Maroons for the 19th consecutive time in St. Louis.

Junior Nofi Mojidi (Silver Spring, Md./ Bullis School) led the Maroons with 19 points. Freshman Anna Woods (Bala Cynwyd, Pa./ Lower Merion) collected 11 rebounds and three blocks off the bench.

Jaimie McFarlin contributed 10 points and 11 boards for the Bears.

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