Sports update Dec. 6, 2010

Women’s basketball wins McWilliams Classic

The No. 6 women’s basketball team held Elmhurst College without a field goal for a stretch of more than 11 minutes during the first half en route to a 61-36 victory in the 10th Annual McWilliams Classic championship game Dec. 4 at the Washington University Field House.

Sophomore Annie Sayers and seniors Kathryn Berger and Alex Hoover were named to the all-tournament team, with Sayers garnering Jacqueline Bickel Schaap Most Valuable Player accolades.

The Bears held Elmhurst under 40 points — a season-first for the point total. Elmhurst finished the game shooting 22.2 percent from the field. WUSTL is holding its opponents to an average of 52.3 points per game and is allowing just 46.2 points per game at home.

The Bears advanced to the title game with a 64-53 win over the University of New England Dec. 3. Berger scored a team-high 13 points in that win.

WUSTL (5-1) continues its five-game home stand at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 10, when it welcomes Central College (Iowa) to the Field House.

Men’s basketball undefeated in Lopata Classic

Senior Spencer Gay scored 19 points and earned tournament Most Valuable Player honors as the men’s basketball team picked up a 66-57 victory over Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges Dec. 4, at the WU Field House.

Gay, who was named the Robert L. Burnes Most Valuable Player, was joined on the all-tournament team by senior teammate Caleb Knepper. Freshman Tim Cooney, sophomore Ben Hoener and Knepper each scored eight points as the Bears shot 51.0 percent (25-of-49) as a team in the win. Cooney pulled in 10 rebounds in the win.

The Bears also picked up an 80-70 victory in front of a crowd of more than 2,000 during an exhibition contest with Tsinghua University from the People’s Republic of China Dec. 3. Gay led all scorers with 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting, while Knepper finished with 14 points and freshman Alan Aboona tallied 10 points to join Gay in double figures.

Junior Dylan Richter scored a career-high 23 points and senior Spencer Gay tied his career high with 22 points as the men’s basketball team picked up a 82-65 victory over Fontbonne University Dec. 8 at the Field House.

Swimming & diving shines at Wheaton Invitational

The men’s and women’s swimming and diving squads closed out their first semester of competition on a high note with strong performances at the Wheaton Invitational Dec. 3-4 in Wheaton, Ill.

The women’s team tallied a two-day score of 856 points to edge second place University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point by a margin of just 14 points. The WUSTL men’s squad finished second out of five schools with a two-day tally of 738 points.

The Bears combined for 11 first-place finishes, seven for the men’s team and four for the women, while meeting NCAA Division III Championship provisional qualifying standards in eight events.

Senior David Chao submitted four first-place finishes to go along with four NCAA “B” cut swims. He won the 100-yard freestyle with an NCAA provisional time of 45.62, a mark that qualified for the 2010 championship, and also finished first with a “B” cut in the 200-yard freestyle (1:41.76).

He was joined by sophomore Mark Minowitz, senior Kartik Anjur and junior Chris Valach on the first-place 800-freestyle relay team, which also met provisional NCAA qualifying standards with a time of 6:53.08.

For the women, freshman Chi Pham submitted two NCAA “B” cuts. She captured the 200-individual medley with an NCAA provisional time of 2:08.15, and finished first in the 100-yard backstroke with a time of 57.99, which stands as a 2011 championship provisional mark and would have qualified for last year’s NCAA meet.

The women’s other provisional cut came from freshman Grace Murray, who finished second in the 1,650-yard freestyle with a time of 17:34.01.