Sports updates Feb. 14

Winning streak stopped by Rochester

The No. 6 women’s basketball team’s nine-game winning streak came to an end with a 71-61 setback at No. 16 University of Rochester Feb. 13 in a University Athletic Association (UAA) contest in Rochester, N.Y.

Prior to that loss, the Bears picked up a 74-60 win at Emory University Feb. 11 led by Kathryn Berger’s career-high 32 points. Berger became just the 12th student athlete in WUSTL history to pass 1,000-career points with that game. She has scored 1,026 points in her career and ranks eighth with 651 rebounds.

Against Rochester, Berger scored 18 points to go along with junior Dani Hoover’s 11, but it was not enough to lift the Bears to a win. WUSTL trailed by as many as 13 in the second half before cutting its deficit to just six on a Hoover 3-point play, but that was as close as the score would get.

The Bears (18-4, 9-2 UAA) return home for their last three regular-season games, beginning Friday, Feb. 18, against New York University at the Field House.

Men’s basketball drops pair of road games

The men’s basketball team suffered a pair of road losses last weekend to even its overall record at 11-11.

Senior Spencer Gay scored a team-high 21 points and junior Dylan Richter added 20 but it was not enough as the Bears dropped a 92-67 decision at Emory University Feb. 4.

The Bears put together an upset bid at University Athletic Association (UAA) leading University of Rochester Feb. 6, but fell short in an 83-78 defeat.

Gay led all WUSTL scorers with 23 points on 11-of-15 shooting and was one of four Bears to score in double figures in the game. Senior Caleb Knepper tallied 12 points with Richter and junior Alex Toth chipped in with 11 points apiece.

WUSTL (11-11, 5-6 UAA) begins a three-game home stand to end the season against New York University at 8 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, and at noon Sunday, Feb. 20 against Brandeis University.

Men’s tennis sweeps pair of ranked opponents

The No. 6 men’s tennis team picked a pair of ranked last weekend to improves its overall record to 2-1.

The Bears rallied from a 2-1 deficit to pick up their first win of the season in a 5-4 victory over NCAA Division II University of Southern Indiana, 5-4, Feb. 4 in St. Charles, Mo. With the match tied at 4-4, freshman Tim Noack clinched the match with a straight-set victory at No. 6 singles.

Playing its third ranked-team in seven days, the Bears defeated NAIA No. 20 McKendree University, 7-2, Feb. 5, in Belleville, Ill.

WUSTL returns to action at 9 a.m. Friday, Feb. 18, against No. 9 North Carolina Wesleyan University in the quarterfinals of the Intercollegiate Tennis Association (ITA) National Indoor Championship at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va.

Seven of the top 10 ranked teams in Division III will compete in the event.

Phillips has qualifying run in mile race

Junior Liz Phillips of the women’s indoor track & field team provisionally qualified for the 2011 NCAA Division III indoor championships in the mile run as the Bears’ men’s and women’s teams were in competition at the Monmouth College Fighting Scot Invitational Feb. 12 in Monmouth, Ill.

Phillips was one of two first-place finishers for the WUSTL women. She won the mile with a time of 5:00.01, seventh in Division III based on the top performances of the season heading into this weekend’s competition.

Freshman Gabby Reuveni won the 5,000-meter race with a time of 19:25.56; freshman Jasmine Williams was the runner-up in the high jump (1.58 meters); and freshman Anna Etherington placed second in the pole vault (3.45 meters).

Senior Jessica Londeree rounded out the women’s top performers, finishing third in the mile with a time of 5:07.32.

For the men’s team, junior Dan Davis found himself in a familiar position at the top of the 55-hurdle finishers. His time of 7.51 in the final was just 0.01 seconds off his school-record breaking pace set earlier this season.

The men’s distance duo of senior Alden Black and junior Michael Burnstein finished first and second respectively in the 3,000-meter, with times of 8:47.00 and 8:48.20. Junior Paul Garcia added another distance win for the WUSTL men, finishing first in the 5,000-meter (15:06.25).

Senior Chris Malaya was the runner-up in the 200-meter (23.04) and the 400-meter (50.78), senior Chris Brennan was second in the 800-meter (1:57.07) and senior Ben Harmon placed third in the pole vault by clearing a season-best height of 4.65 meters.

The Bears return to action Saturday, Feb. 19, for the North Central College Cardinal Classic in Naperville, Ill.