Sports Editor

The Washington University men’s and women’s swim teams underscored their third and fourth place finishes at the Wheaton Invitational with 11 NCAA-qualifying times for the weekend.

This event was the Bears’ last competition of the fall season and is considered their most important meet behind the University Athletic Association and NCAA championships. In preparation for the invitational, the team “tapered,” reducing the amount of yardage in workouts at practice each day leading up to the meet.

“We decrease our yardage and kind of rest for the meet,” senior captain Jessie Lodewyk said. “It’s really a mental thing. Mentally and physically you just start to get really hyped up about the swim meet. When you get there it’s all mental, really preparing and racing hard. We definitely attacked our races and really stepped up our performance.”

Senior captain Alex Beyer’s first place finish in the 500 freestyle of 4:27.07 and a time of 3:58.43 in the preliminary race for the 400 individual medley earned him two NCAA automatic qualifying times.

“Overall it was a pretty decent meet; times were decent,” Beyer said. “We’re still not at where we want to be at the end of the season, so we have a lot of work left to do.”

The team capped off the meet with a first-place finish in the 400 freestyle relay that earned an NCAA provisional cut, as well as a new meet and pool record. The relay squad of Beyer, senior captain Dan Arteaga, freshman Mark Minowitz and junior David Chao finished the race in 3:04.02.

Two additional relays earned NCAA provisional cuts: the 200 freestyle relay of Arteaga, Beyer, freshman Brendan Morin and Chao, and the 400 medley relay of junior Kartik Anjur, Beyer, Arteaga and Chao. Both were first-place finishes.

The women’s squad placed fourth out of six teams, but earned four NCAA provisional cuts at the meet. Lodewyk led the Bears with two cuts, placing first in the 200 freestyle and finishing runner-up in the 500 freestyle. “I was really excited about my times,” Lodewyk said. “I’ve historically had a really bad Wheaton meet, so I was really excited to go those times at mid-season. I had someone to race against the whole meet, and that’s when I swim my best.”

Junior Karin Underwood won the 200 backstroke and earned a provisional cut with her time of 2:08.10 in the preliminary race. Freshman Meg Powers also finished first with a time of 59.52 in the 100 butterfly. Sophomore Karina Stridh was runner-up in the 100 backstroke, and her preliminary time of 59.63 also qualified for a provisional cut.

“We had some really good swims,” Lodewyk said. “There were some people that stepped up in a really big way…People took it up to the next level and performed the way they needed to perform.”

The Bears return to competition on Jan. 8. Their dual meet with Lindenwood University will be hosted at the Millstone Pool and is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m.

Coming off the bench, junior Kathryn Berger led the Bears with 15 points in 17 minutes. Junior Kelsey Robb recorded a team-high seven rebounds to go along with 14 points.

Three of the Bears’ starters—seniors Zoë Unruh and Janice Evans and graduate student Jaimie McFarlin—added 11 points each. Unruh and Evans both shot 4 for 6 from the field, while Evans matched Robb with seven rebounds.

“We tried to pound the ball inside more, and that was working with us,” junior guard Alex Hoover said.

With 77 points, the team put on its second-best offensive performance of the young season, and its 58.8 percent shooting was its best of the season to date.

“We executed really well,” Berger said. “They were shading out to the shooters, so we drove the ball inside, which worked out.”

After falling behind 2-0 on the first basket, the Red and Green scored nine straight points to jump out to an early lead. Elmhurst fought back and tied the game at 14, but six straight points, including two free throws each from McFarlin and Evans, put the Bears ahead with a lead that they would never relinquish.

Elmhurst, however, kept fighting. Thanks to a strong performance from senior forward Lyndsie Long, who scored the most of any opposing player yet this season with 24 points, the Blue Jays kept the game close through the entire first half. The Bears brought a 36-29 lead to the locker room but came out firing after the break, shooting 16 for 23 (69.6 percent). A 12-6 run to start the half, fueled by eight points from Unruh that included a pair of threes, forced Elmhurst to take a timeout. Four more points for the Bears out of the timeout created a 52-35 advantage and put them well on their way to the victory.

“It was an interesting game. It felt like a close game the whole time,” Hoover said. “They were a tough team. It wasn’t an easy win.”

Despite allowing the most points and highest field goal percentage (40 percent) that they have yet to an opposing team this season, the Bears were happy with their level of defensive play. “Overall I think we did well in doubling down because they have some really good players on their team,” Berger said. “We did the little things that make the game a lot better. It was all about gametime adjustments.”

The Bears’ win put them at a 6-1 mark for the year. The Red and Green face Fontbonne University on Wednesday, Dec. 9, with tip-off at 7 p.m. in Fontbonne’s gym.

Sports Editor

The No. 1 Washington University men’s basketball team was deadly this weekend in the 26th annual Lopata Classic—deadly, of course, from beyond the arc.

In the 76-50 win in the championship game against Pomona-Pitzer College, the Bears connected on 13 of 26 three-pointers. Despite the final score, the game was hotly contested early on.

“You’ve got to take what they give you. Tonight they played the zone [defense], so we ended up getting jump shots,” head coach Mark Edwards said. “I think the key thing is that the players take good shots.”

The Bears connected on four straight three-pointers to open the game, taking a 12-5 lead with 15:44 left in the first half.

Pomona-Pitzer responded with a 16-6 run in the next five minutes, taking a three-point lead on senior David Liss’ jumper. Liss had 14 points in the first half and earned all-tournament honors.

“I don’t know if there was anything we could’ve done in the first half,” senior Cameron Smith said. “He’s a very quick player, and he hit some really tough shots.”

The Bears slowly pulled away from the Sagehens. Graduate student Sean Wallis’s four-point play with 2:47 left in the half pushed the lead to six. Wallis scored nine straight to give Wash. U. a 12-point advantage at the break.

The second half was all Bears.

Smith’s three-pointer with 13:41 left in the game stretched Wash. U.’s lead to 23. Smith was perfect from long range (4 for 4), and finished with 14 points.

“It just so happened that I was the guy who they kind of left open in the corner,” Smith said. “I got some really good looks, and when you get good looks, it’s nice to be able to knock them down.”

Liss, on the other hand, was limited to just two points in the second half. Pomona-Pitzer managed only 18 points and shot 29.3 percent from the field.

“It’s one thing to be able to hit shots 10 minutes into the game, and it’s another thing to hit one 30 minutes in the game,” Edwards said. “[Liss] was a very good player, but we were able to rotate people on him and have to make him work very hard, and by the end of the game, I think he was very tired.”

The lead, which was pushed to a game high of 29, sufficiently guaranteed a Bears win. Junior Caleb Knepper and sophomore Dylan Richter each added 11 points.

A similar lead in the first game of the tournament, against NAIA No. 5 McKendree University, almost did not.

A 47-22 Bears lead to start the second half of Friday night’s game was slowly dismantled by the Bearcats. Freshman John Steppe’s back-to-back triples cut the lead to just six with 14 minutes left in the game. Steppe finished the game with 19 points.

“That’s the way the game of basketball is,” Edwards said. “It’s played with two teams, and if they’re competitive teams, they’ll give each other good shots and there’ll be surges during the game.”

Senior Aaron Thompson’s consecutive three-point plays minutes later stopped the bleeding as part of a 10-0 run that increased the lead to 14. Thompson’s 21 points helped the Bears stave off the Bearcats in the final 10 minutes of the game.

“We just kind of stuck to what had been working, and getting good shots and finding the open man,” Wallis said. “That was the difference.”

Wash. U. came away with a 15-point victory, advancing to play the Sagehens in the tournament championship.

Wallis averaged 17.5 points and 6.8 assists per game, earning him the Robert L. Burnes tournament Most Valuable Player award. Smith and Thompson also earned spots on the all-tournament team.

“Obviously, it’s a nice honor, but I couldn’t be happier about my team going 2-0, more importantly,” Wallis said. “I’m looking forward to this week. We’ve got some huge games, so hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Washington University (5-0) returns to action on Wednesday, Dec. 9, against No. 6 Wheaton College before taking on No. 21 Augustana College on Saturday, Dec. 12. Both games tip off at 7 p.m.

(L-R) Forwards sophomore Lee Ann Felder, sophomore Emma Brown and senior Caryn Rosoff console each other after falling 1-0 to Messiah College in the NCAA Division III Women’s Soccer National Championship on Dec. 5. (Matt Mitgang | Student Life)

Sadie Mackay

Sports Reporter

The rankings would have put No. 1 Messiah College five goals ahead of No. 17 Washington University, the same score the Falcons won with last year. But the underdog gave the No. 1 team a true batttle, allowing only one Messiah goal in 90 minutes and nearly sending the game into overtime.

“The score was only one-nothing. Last year, [the championship game] was five nothing,” junior Laura McGinnis said. “We did stay in it till the last minute. We didn’t stop fighting.”
The Falcons, who are on a 56-game unbeaten streak, held the Bears to six shots in San Antonio on Saturday, with only one on goal, one of their lowest amounts this season, en route to the Falcons’ second straight NCAA Division III national title.

Offensive opportunities were few and far between, except for the last few minutes of the game as the Red and Green were determined to leave all their efforts on the field. In the 89th minute, senior Emily Bylsma took the last shot the team had in the game.

“The last few minutes were pretty exciting…We were pressing until the very end,” Bylsma said. “Elyse [Hanly] had a really good cross, and the keeper managed to get a hand on it, and I was off by a few inches or a foot from getting a better shot off.”

The Bears had the daunting task of recovering after Friday’s draining game against Lynchburg College, which they won in sudden-death penalty kicks. Coming back on the field less than 24 hours later to try to defeat the team that had won the championship last year in a decisive 5-0 rout was a challenge the Bears came very close to overcoming.

In addition to stifling the Bears’ normally effective attack, the Falcons took 16 shots and were awarded two corner kicks to the Red and Green’s zero. Wash. U.’s lack of opportunities, namely corner kicks, sealed the Bears’ fate.

Messiah found the back of the net in the 23rd minute of the first half when Amanda Naeher received a cross and shot just outside the box into the near corner of the goal, just inches past the diving freshman goalie Clara Jaques, who had six saves throughout the game.

The Falcons kept the Bears’ momentum in check as they opened the game with three forwards, something head coach Jim Conlon had not expected.

“They had us on our heels in the first half with three forwards, and we were able to adjust,” Conlon said. “They did get the goal in the first half, but we just could not get the equalizer.”

Even when the time was short, Wash. U.’s effort was relentless. The Bears’ passion was matched closely by the 23 students on the fan bus, namely the “Conlon Crazies,” a group of men’s soccer players and other fans. According to Bylsma, one of the referees commented on how impressed she was with the dedicated Wash. U. fans.

Senior captain Libby Held and sophomores Emma Brown and Lee Ann Felder were named to the NCAA championship all-tournament team.

The team’s group of eight graduating seniors led the team to its best NCAA appearance in history, making it to the Final Four for the second time ever and the first championship game appearance.

The group also led the team to four consecutive UAA championships.

“These eight seniors have been through a lot together—been through coaching switches, people playing, not playing, people quitting…It’s all about the heart and the common goal all of us shared from the beginning,” senior captain Carter Schwarberg said. “I love my team; I’m so proud of them, and I know they’ll be here next year.”

While the departing eight will be sorely missed in next year’s roster, their influence will remain.

“I’m just excited that our team made it this far,” Brown said. “Our seniors especially pulled our team together. I’ve never been on a team that played for each other as hard as we played for each other all season.”

With additional reporting from San Antonio by Johann Qua Hiansen

The Judges responded with fury, kicking the ball out to guard Lauren Rashford ‘10 on the left flank. Rashford dropped a 3-pointer to bring the Judges within 5 points for the first time in the second half, but the team could not salvage the comeback, losing their first game of the season 60-50 and dropping the team’s record to 5-1 after it defeated Wellesley College last Tuesday.

Tufts’ high-energy game appeared to be more than the Judges could handle. Coach Carol Simon’s squad appeared sluggish, failing to decisively move toward the ball or box out on rebounds. Including several turnovers on offensive pass attempts, Brandeis turned the ball over 20 times, more than twice as much as the Jumbos. 

Once again leading the team with 13 points and nine rebounds was guard Jessica Chapin ‘10, who commented on the Judges’ sloppy offense.

“We just didn’t play our game; we let Tufts control the tempo,” Chapin said. “They started out quick[ly]. … We kept fighting back. but we just couldn’t get over the top. We were playing Tufts ball, not ours.”

The Jumbos took a 13-point lead, their largest of the game, midway through the second half. Brandeis responded by bringing the score back within 10 and eventually 5 on Rashford’s 3-pointer but was unable to make much headway.

Rashford suggested improved confidence in games and more intensity in practice would help the team once again rise to victory.

“It’s really about playing in practice the same as we do in games,” Rashford said. “Those same mistakes that we make in practice are the same mistakes that are going to show up when it counts.”

Particularly important to Rashford was that she and the team knew which personnel would be on the court at any given moment in the game.

Guard Diana Cincotta ‘11 notched an additional 11 points and five rebounds in the loss.
Before the loss to Tufts, the Judges won their third straight road game in a 64-52 victory at Wellesley. Delivering a game-high 18 points, six rebounds, four assists and three steals, Chapin led the way for Brandeis and moved into the program’s top 10 all-time scoring list with 971 career points. 

Guard Morgan Kendrew ‘12 notched 17 points, one rebound and two assists, while guard Carmela Breslin ‘10 contributed a dozen more points, three assists and a rebound. 

Breslin noted the importance of Chapin as an offensive force.

“Obviously she’s one of those players whose hands you want the ball in,” she said. “And she wants the ball in her hands. So when time’s running down a lot of the plays revolve around her.”

Kendrew reiterated Breslin’s words, adding that “more individual players need to have confidence, myself included, so that when the ball is in our hands we know we can shoot and make it count.” 

Rashford chimed in, adding that more players taking on leadership roles will help in conference play against strong defensive opponents that may focus on shutting down Chapin.

“We all need to step it up,” Rashford said. “There will be times when we won’t be able to rely on [Chapin] as our only option.”

Chapin was in tune with Rashford, accrediting much of her scoring potential to the loss of several key players last year alongside the multitalented 2009 to 2010 squad.

“We need to look to other players on the team now,” said Chapin. “Players like [Kendrew], [center Kasey Gieschen '10] and [foward Amber Strodthoff '11].” 

The Judges took an early 31-7 lead and finished the half in control leading the Blue 36-14. Brandeis led by as many as 26 in last Tuesday’s game, staving off a ferocious Wellesley offensive attack in the second half.

The Blue outscored the Judges 38-28 in the second half, bringing the score within double-digits in the final two minutes. 

With Wellesley closing in and the score 57-49, Chapin knocked down a 3-point shot that would help secure the Judges’ fifth win of the season 64-52.

The Judges play tonight at 7 p.m. at Emmanuel College and Friday afternoon on the road at 3 p.m. against Roger Williams University.

Playing against 11th-ranked women’s basketball, Carthage (4–0) shot 63.6 percent from the field in the second half en route to a 64–62 upset of the Maroons (4–1) at Ratner.

Despite an early poor showing, Chicago trailed Carthage by only four with 13 seconds left on the clock, and second-year guard Joann Torres made a quick lay-up to cut the deficit to two with eight seconds left.

After the ensuing inbounds play, second-year guard Meghan Herrick quickly fouled Carthage guard Katie Klemke. Klemke entered the game having made all of her four free-throw attempts, but failed to convert the front end of the one-and-one.

Chicago snared the rebound and quickly got the ball to Torres’s hands. Torres dribbled upcourt before finding second-year guard Bryanne Halfhill standing alone in the left corner. Halfhill’s buzzer-beater clanked off the rim, denying the Maroons what would have been a dramatic comeback.

Chicago had spent the entire game playing from behind after Carthage opened with an 18–2 run. The Maroons struggled to maintain possession throughout the first half and committed 11 turnovers in the first 20 minutes. When Chicago did manage to get shots off, they had difficulty finding the net, and they shot just 20 percent from the field before halftime.

Second-year post Taylor Simpson attributed Chicago’s early mistakes to tough defense by the Lady Reds.

“Carthage plays a very aggressive defense, so I think we just made a lot of mental mistakes,” Simpson said. “We did not take care of the ball well at all, and I think we kind of panicked when they pressured us so hard.”

Head coach Aaron Roussell felt that his team lacked their usual intensity early in the contest.

“We came out really lethargic. We didn’t have that burst of energy that I felt we started with in the other games”.

After trailing 28–16 at the break, Roussell made a tactical adjustment that paid dividends in the second half.

“We ended up changing our lineup a little bit. We went a little smaller and played four guards,” Roussell said. “The biggest thing was our kids had their backs up against the wall, and came out fighting.”

That fighting spirit bolstered Chicago’s offense in the second half. Herrick led the comeback attempt with 24 second-half points. On the game, Herrick led all scorers with 26 points, a new career high.

“[Herrick] was the reason we got back in the game. She put us on her back and carried us, and got us back in the ballgame,” Roussell said.

Fourth-year guard Jamie Stinson also chipped in 10 second-half points for Chicago, which shot better than 40 percent from the field and from beyond the arc in the second half.

As effective as the Maroons were, the Lady Reds were even better. Carthage nailed four of the seven three-pointers after halftime, and 14 of 22 field goals overall in the half.

Nonetheless, Chicago managed to claw its way back into the game thanks in part to superior rebounding. Despite using four guards, the Maroons still out-rebounded the Lady Reds 16–10 in the second half.

While disappointed to lose, Roussell was realistic about his team’s performance.

“If we would have made that shot at the end, we would have stolen that game. We probably did not deserve to win,” he said.

Competing against 38 other squads at Saturday’s Midwest Regional hosted by UW–Oshkosh, the women finished sixth—missing eligibility for the NCAA championships by one spot—while the men’s team took tenth place.

The top finishers of both teams, second–year Mahmoud Bahrani and third–year Lizzie Bright, received all–region honors. Bahrani finished the eight–kilometer course in 25:09, which was good for a 27th place finish out of 282 runners. Bright finished 33rd out of 273 runners by completing the six–kilometer women’s course in 22:43.

North Central won the men’s meet with a score of 21. UW–La Crosse placed second at 105 and Wash U placed third with 118. Chicago earned a score of 331.

On the women’s side, UW–Eau Claire won with a score of 52, followed by Wash U with 72 and UW–La Crosse at 98. The women claimed their sixth place finish with 237 points.

Despite placing five runners in the top 60, the women’s team left Saturday’s meet disappointed.

“We finished well below our expectations,” third–year Molly Peverada said. “Going into the meet, we were hoping to place close to Oshkosh, but instead we weren’t even close to the fifth place team, so everyone was extremely disappointed after our race.”

That disappointment was felt on the individual level, as well.

“All I wanted was to go to the national meet in Cleveland,” Bright said. “Now I’m heartbroken, but I guess there is always track season.”

The Midwest is home to many talent–rich programs, and is perennially one of the nation’s strongest regional meets. While this makes it difficult to succeed at the Midwest Regional amidst such a wealth of top runners, the level of competition also makes for an interesting racing experience.

“It seemed like everywhere you ran there were always several crowds of fans shouting, cheering, jeering,” said first–year Bill Whitmore, the men’s number two finisher. “Cross country in the Midwest is a serious event, and all the hype only added to the excitement of regional competition.”

Though he was disappointed to miss Nationals, Bahrani was realistic about what prevented the Maroons from seriously challenging the region’s elite teams.

“Teams like North Central and UW–La Crosse are good because they have seven guys consistently [running] over 95 miles a week. There isn’t a secret to running. If you run a lot of miles, you’ll be good.”

The women also shied away from excuses.

“Course conditions were fine—no mud, little wind, little crowding. The course was fantastic and we, obviously, were not,” Peverada remarked.

Now, as the country’s best teams prepare for Nationals this Saturday, the Maroons are already thinking of ways to improve for next fall.

“We all must increase our summer mileage or at least train at a more consistent level during workouts,” Whitmore said. “Despite the loss of two senior runners, we still have a plethora of youthful talent eager to be unleashed throughout the upcoming seasons.”

As for the women, their goal next year will be cracking the Midwest’s top five teams and reaching NCAAs.

“Next year, we need to make Nationals,” Peverada said. “That is the only way we can improve. Everyone needs to have a quality, complete race at Regionals, and we need to have the confidence and desire to make it to where it has eluded us for two years in a row.”

Registering their best UAA Championship performance in 13 years, the Maroons (28–13, 7–4 UAA) went 2–1 in the opening round robin before beating NYU in the third-place match Saturday to close out their season.

The only squads to finish ahead of Chicago were third-ranked Wash U and fourth-ranked Emory; the Eagles beat the Bears in Saturday’s championship match to win the conference and garner the automatic NCAA bid.

Third place in the highly competitive UAA is an impressive showing from the much-improved Maroons, who won just seven matches two years ago. However, they very nearly ended finishing even higher. Chicago was just a few points from beating Emory, the defending national champion, when the teams met in the final round-robin match Saturday morning. Beating the Eagles would have put Chicago in the championship match against Wash U, where they could have finished no worse than runner-up.

Chicago’s energy was high going into the Emory match, which helped earn them a 25–21 victory in the first set. Though Emory took the second set, the Maroons stayed within a few points most of the way before succumbing 16–25.

The third set was marked by aggressive blocks, especially by first-year middle blocker Caroline Brander and second-year outside hitter Colleen Belak, few errors, and excellent serves, which led to a 25–13 Chicago victory and a 2–1 lead in the match.

The Maroons were excited going into set four and fought hard before ultimately losing 25–27, which forced a decisive fifth set.

Chicago initially led the final set, but Emory worked back and ultimately defeated the Maroons 15–13.

The five-set thriller against the highly rated Emory side was far closer than the Maroons’ straight-sets loss to the Eagles earlier this season, and it was a sign of how far the team has come, not only over the past couple years, but also in the past few weeks.

Second-year outside hitter Paige Peltzer said after the loss to Emory that the team was “proud of how they played, disappointed that they lost.”

Chicago’s first match was on Friday against sixth-seeded Carnegie. The Maroons started out strong in taking the first set but lost control of the ball in the second and third sets. Chicago rallied in the fourth and fifth sets with the help of some particularly spectacular kills made by second-year outside hitter Isis Smalls to prevail over the Tartans 25–20, 12–25, 18–25, 27–25, 15–3.

Head coach Vanessa Walby said the team was especially excited for the rest of the weekend’s matches after defeating Carnegie, which beat Chicago earlier this fall. Even so, Walby remained focused on improving throughout the upcoming matches, reiterating that the two things required for a strong game were “to serve aggressively and block closely.”

The Maroons went on to defeat seventh-seeded Brandeis in their second Friday match. During that game, Smalls collected 11 kills, third-year outside hitter Elizabeth Kossnar had nine, and Belak made seven kills and three aces.
First-year libero Sam Brown played excellently all weekend, totaling 67 digs over the course of the tournament, and repeatedly making digs that elicited gasps and cheers from the crowd.

In the program’s 38-year history, only one other Maroon squad has notched more wins than the 2009 Maroons’ count of 28. As good as that total looks now, the most exciting thing about it may be what it portends for the coming years. Chicago is an unusually young team, and their lone fourth-year, outside hitter Diandra Bucciarelli, took a medical redshirt during her third year and will return for one more season next fall.

“We’ll just keep progressing,” Walby said.