CHICAGO – An early burst by visiting Washington in St. Louis and a poor shooting day by the No. 8 University of Chicago women's basketball team proved to be too much for the Maroons to overcome in Saturday's 85-66 loss in both teams' conference opener Saturday. 

UChicago (9-3, 0-1 University Athletic Association) dropped its second-straight game and never led in the contest, which saw the Bears (7-5, 1-0) open with a 10-4 run in the first quarter.

Senior Olariche Obi led the Maroons with 17 points, eight rebounds and four steals, junior Mia Farrell added 12 points and four assists and senior Jamie Kockenmeister chipped in 10 points, four steals and five rebounds to round out the team's scorers in double figures.

After the Bears took a 28-15 lead after one quarter, UChicago responded with a second frame that saw the Maroons outscore the visitor, 19-14. Kockenmeister had seven of her 10 points during that stretch and Obi added six points to trim WashU's halftime lead to eight, 42-34.

The Maroons were able to get as close as six in the third, but WashU used the 3-point shot – the Bears drained two in the final minute of the quarter – to open up a 16-point lead heading into the fourth quarter. WashU would take its largest lead of 21 with 50 seconds left to play in the contest.

UChicago shot just 37.1 percent (23-of-62) from the field and 21.1 percent (4-of-19) from the 3-point line compared to WashU's 46.8 percent (29-of-62) and 41.7 percent (5-of-12) outings. The Bears also made 22-of-27 (81.5 percent) from the free-throw line, while UChicago hit 16-of-24 (66.7 percent).

Rebounds also went to the Bears, 45-33, and had more assists, 21-11. UChicago did force WashU into 21 turnovers, but committed 17 of its own.

Taylor Lake added nine points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals and rookie Klaire Steffens chipped in a near-double-double with nine points and seven rebounds off the bench for UChicago.

WashU's Madeline Homoly led all scorers with 23 points.

NEXT GAME:

• Friday, Jan. 11: Rochester (N.Y.) at UChicago. 6 p.m. CT