Southern Illinois News

Women's basketball claims victory over Washington-St. Louis

 With Saturday afternoon's 79-70 win at Washington-St. Louis, the women's basketball team accomplished a feat that has not occurred since head coach Roy Mulholland was a Greenville student 40 years ago. The team picked up a triumph over the five-time NCAA Division III champion Bears.

After wins in their first five matchups against the Bears, the GU squad had not won since two victories during the 1982-83 season and had dropped 12 straight contests against WashU before Saturday's victory.

The Panthers opened Saturday's contest scoring the first seven points of the game and had a two point advantage, 19-17, after the first quarter. The Bears went on top and carried a 31-29 lead into the halftime intermission after outscoring GU 14-10 in the second quarter.

After a third quarter in which both teams scored 19 points, the squads went into the final period with the Bears clinging to a two point lead.

Greenville eventually tied the score at 50-all with a jumper by Abigail Reinneck just 30 seconds into the fourth quarter, and the Panthers never again trailed. The Panthers exploded for 31 points in the fourth period and only missed a double-digit win when WashU added a late layup to cut the margin to single digits.

The Panther backcourt pressure was more than WashU could handle and contributed to 17 turnovers by the Bears. Greenville's Abigail Reinneck had three steals, and Mia deJesus and Emily Reinneck both posted two steals.

Emily Reinneck ended the game as GU's leading scorer with 20 points. She made 5-of-10 field goal attempts, 2-of-6 three-pointers, and all eight free throws while providing a team-high four assists.

Ally Cantrill provided 15 points with four buckets, including a three-pointer, and a perfect 6-of-6 mark at the free throw line.

Madelyn Stephen also added 15 points.

Greenville was outrebounded 36-31 in the contest, but Alyssa Seymour was the top rebounder for GU with 10.

Both teams shot 41 percent with 25 field goals. GU had a slight edge 6-5 in three-pointers, but the Panthers were outstanding from the charity stripe, converting 23-of-25 free throws at an 88.5 percent rate. Conversely, WashU only made 15-of-23 free throw attempts.

The Panthers (7-3) will resume their season on December 31 at Millikin in a game against another former NCAA national champion program.

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