Women’s hoops wins UAA, heads for tourney
The No. 9 women’s basketball team defeated the University of Chicago, 80-57, Feb. 26 at the WUSTL Field House to earn its eighth-straight University Athletic Association championship, as well as an automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Tournament.
The title was the Bears’ 15th in the 18-year history of the UAA.
The Maroons led 8-6 early before WUSTL (21-4, 11-3 UAA) reeled off nine straight points. Chicago would not go away, though. The Maroons fought back to knot the score at 29 at the 3:33 mark of the first half.
But the last three minutes of the first frame belonged to WUSTL, as it ended the half on a 16-3 run to take a 45-32 halftime advantage. Senior Kelly Manning led all scorers with 16 points at the break.
The Bears then broke the game open with a 10-3 run to open the second half.
Senior Leslie Berger tallied career-high and team single-game record 13 assists and no turnovers. Her 13 assists also broke the UAA record. Senior Hallie Hutchens recorded her sixth double-double of the season with 10 points and 11 rebounds, while Manning netted a game-high 25 points.
WUSTL hosted Webster University March 2, after Record presstime, at the Field House in first-round action of the NCAA Tournament. The winner of that game will travel to Decatur, Ill., to take on Millikin University March 5.
Track and field teams win UAA indoor title
The men’s and women’s track and field teams each won the UAA Indoor Championship Feb. 26 in New York.
The women, who have won six straight indoor conference titles and seven overall, notched 170 team points, far ahead of second-place Emory University’s 91.
The men’s squad, which won its first indoor title since 1999 and seventh overall, finished with 159 points, while Carnegie Mellon University took second with 113.
The Bears women totaled eight individual titles on the weekend, led by freshman Danielle Wadlington and junior Laura Ehret. Wadlington won the 200-meter dash in a time of 26.21 in the final after clocking a 26.17 in the prelims. Ehret took first place in the 800, clocking a school-record time of 2:17.53 to provisionally qualify for the NCAA Indoor Champion-ships.
Wadlington also led off the 1,600-relay squad, which recorded a UAA-winning mark of 3:55.35, also a school record and NCAA “B” cut.
The Bears maintained their dominance in the distance events. Sophomore Elizabeth Herndon won the 3,000-meter run in a time of 10:21.86. Maggie Grabow won the 5,000, clocking a 17:31.49 to win the title.
Sophomore Delaina Martin highlighted WUSTL’s field events. Martin shattered the school and UAA record in the weight throw with a mark of 16.59 meters, improving her NCAA provisional qualifying mark by more than a meter. Junior Leah Sabin took first place in the long jump with a leap of 5.23 meters.
The men racked up five individual titles. Freshman Doug Beattie ran past the competition in the 55-meter dash; junior David Skiba defended his title in the 55-meter hurdles, finishing first in 7.74; and junior Brennan Bonner won the conference title in the 3,000 (8:27.20).
Sophomore Matt Amantea and classmate Aaron Mangold registered the Bears’ other two titles in the field events. Amantea won the triple jump with a leap of 14.06m, while Mangold won the pole vault, clearing 4.50 meters.
Men’s basketball team finishes third in UAA
The men’s basketball team defeated the University of Chicago, 69-60, Feb. 26 at the WUSTL Field House to claim third place in the UAA.
Senior Anthony Hollins scored a team-high 16 points and added four boards. Freshman Troy Ruths added 10 points off the bench.
Women’s tennis team loses to No. 6 DePauw
The No. 16 women’s tennis team (0-2) fell, 6-3, at No. 6 DePauw University Feb. 26.
Sophomore Erin Fleming and junior Lauren Zwick won the No. 1 doubles match, 8-4, and WUSTL picked up the doubles point behind senior Erica Greenberg and classmate Becky Rovner’s 8-3 win at No. 3 doubles.
However, the Bears could not maintain the momentum in singles play, as the Tigers won five of six matches. Greenberg secured WUSTL’s only win in singles play, winning 6-0, 6-1 at No. 4 singles.
Men’s tennis squad rolls at Principia
The No. 13 men’s tennis team participated in the Principia College Tournament Feb. 25-26.
In singles, the Bears won 14 of 15 matches as junior Eric Borden, sophomore Chris Kuppler, freshman Charlie Howard and sophomore Matt Freedman each posted three victories.
In doubles, WUSTL rolled through the competition winning all 11 matches.
Baseball opens slate; wins first two games
The baseball team went 2-0 in its 2005 opening weekend of play. The Bears knocked off Fontbonne University, 12-11, in 10 innings Feb. 26 to open the slate.
WUSTL fell behind 9-2 in the third inning before rallying. The game was tied at 11 in the sixth.
In the 10th inning, junior Alan Germano hit a leadoff double and crossed home plate three batters later after three walks.
The next day, WUSTL rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth to pull out a 6-5 win against Webster University.