Entering the weekend hot off of a strong performance in their league opener at the University of Chicago and looking to extend their five-game winning streak, the No. 25 Bears faced off against No. 6 Emory and Rochester on Jan. 12 and 14. Unfortunately, the ball did not bounce the right way for the Bears.
“I believe we have improved a ton since our first weekend of play. Our players competed in the areas we needed to which put us in [a] position to [do well during] both games. I am super proud of our progress in practices and how it showed up for us this weekend,” Head Coach Randi Henderson said about the team’s performance at the Midwest Challenge.
With under a minute left in the Midwest Challenge championship game between the Washington University women’s basketball team and that of Illinois Wesleyan University (IWU), tensions were heightened as the back-and-forth contest neared the end. Despite the Bears’ best efforts, the Titans played on par with them throughout the hour.
“This weekend was a good experience for us. We are very young and inexperienced. We went on the road to play two teams that will likely be in the NCAA tournament. They are very good, very physical, and showed our team the gaps we need to fill to be better. [There is] no better teacher than experience,” Head Coach Henderson said about the women’s basketball team’s performance.
The Washington University women's basketball team is gearing up for an exciting 2023-24 season, set to tip off with its inaugural game against Johns Hopkins University at the Scholar Classic competition in New York this upcoming weekend. Building on a successful 2022-23 season that saw it achieve a 17-9 record, the team is now looking forward to new challenges with a blend of returning talent and promising newcomers.