Hard driving Bear basketball teams gear up for stretch drive

For the women, that means road contests with Emory University (Jan. 29) -- he last team to beat the Bears in February of 1998 -- and New York University (Feb. 21). WU defeated the Violets, who won the 1997 NCAA Division III championship, 69-47 Jan. 15.

Nancy Fahey's women's squad, ranked No. 1 in the nation by Columbus Multimedia and second nationally in the first Women's Basketball Coaches Association (WBCA) Division III poll, were working on a 22-game overall win streak, as well as a 22-game winning spree at the Washington U. Field House as of Friday, Jan. 22.

Mark Edwards' men's team, one of the hottest in the league with wins in seven of its last nine games, has a pair of dates remaining with the University of Chicago. The teams were scheduled to open the UAA season Jan. 3 in St. Louis, but heavy snow forced the postponement of those games until the final week of the season.

The Bears face the two-time defending UAA champion Maroons twice in four days -- Feb. 24 in St. Louis and Feb. 27 at Chicago. Washington U.'s recent home games featured teams (Rochester and Case Reserve) ranked in their respective regions by the NCAA in its official regional ratings. Rochester and CWRU also sported a combined 21-6 record.

Both Washington U. hoops coaches have rolled on since achieving a unique milestone Jan. 8 at Haverford (Pa.) College. Both Fahey and Edwards, who have spent more than a decade at their posts, reached 275 career victories on the same night as the Bears swept the Fords.

Fahey sports a 278-61 record (.820 winning percentage) in her 13th season on the Bear bench, while Edwards owns a 277-180 ledger (.606) for the 18 years since reviving the dormant men's program in 1981.

Washington U. is well represented in the most recent (Jan. 17) UAA statistical leaders. Junior All-America center Alia Fischer, who led the UAA in scoring as a sophomore, is again on top with a 21.3 points per game (ppg) average. Sophomore forward Tasha Rodgers, who has enjoyed a breakthrough campaign, is fourth in scoring with a 17 ppg clip.

Fischer, the WBCA's Division III Player of the Year last season, also leads the conference in blocked shots (2.7 blocks per game) and field-goal percentage (.578). Fischer ranks fifth among league players in rebounding (9 rebounds per game), while Rodgers is seventh (7.3 rpg).

Two WU guards rank among the league leaders in assists. Junior guard Emily Harold is third in the UAA in assists per game (5.3), while backcourt classmate Sue Tucker is eighth (3.3 apg).

The Bear men's squad boasts individual league leaders in assists, blocked shots and free-throw percentage. Junior forward Dave DeGreeff, playing his first season at WU after transferring from Truman State University, is logging 12.3 rebounds per game and has posted a "double-double" of double figures in points and rebounds in five of the last seven games.

DeGreeff, who has averaged 11.3 ppg and 10.7 rpg since entering the starting lineup Dec. 12 versus MacMurray, also shows up in the top 10 in the league in scoring (seventh, 15 ppg) and field-goal percentage (fourth, .556).

Sophomore forward Chris Alexander leads all players with 1.7 blocks per game, while fellow sophomore guard Derek Laur has not missed a free throw in eight attempts to top the UAA charts with 100-percent accuracy from the charity stripe.

Laur is also second in three-point field-goal percentage (.714), connecting on five of seven attempts, and sophomore point guard Ryan Patton ranks second in the UAA in assists per game (5).