The UChicago women’s basketball team beat Wash U 78–64 behind a combined 43 points from seniors Taylor Lake and Miranda Burt, extending their winning streak to nine games. The Maroons, ranked No. 16, are now 10–2 overall for the season.
The game started slowly, with no points in the first one and a half minutes as the teams exchanged missed shots. The Maroons then jumped out to a 5–0 lead, but the game remained close and only a point separated the teams after the first half as the Maroons led 35–34.
The Maroons took a commanding lead with a 14–2 run to start the third, with their first seven points coming from Burt. From then, the Maroons’ smallest lead was eight points, and in the end the game was comfortable.
The story of the game was the Maroons’ starters: They scored 72 points, including 22 from Burt, 21 from Lake, as well as 13 points and 10 assists from first-year Grace Hynes. Wash U’s bench outscored UChicago’s 24–6, but it didn’t matter as UChicago dominated in the paint, with 40 points to Wash U’s 28. In fact, this is the second game in a row that the Maroons have scored over half their points in the paint, which isn’t to say that the Maroons have no outside shooting: Burt has a 46 percent three-point percentage on 72 shots.
If there’s anything to be concerned about coming from this game, it’s turnovers: UChicago gave the ball away 22 times. Overall though, this was a great first game in UAA conference play, and the women’s basketball team is continuing its dominant form.