Photo credit: GW women’s basketball
By Ashleigh Tobin (@aktobin2)
In a hard fought game Wednesday morning, women’s basketball was unable to pull off the road upset against Duquesne despite their best efforts, falling 79-69.
The Revolutionaries (10-17, 3-12 A10) were only down by one at halftime, but struggled to score in the fourth quarter, tallying just 13 points to Duquesne’s 22. Sophomore guard Nya Robertson was the star for GW yet again, scoring a game-high 29 points, while graduate forward Mayowa Taiwo recorded 15 rebounds, moving up to third all time in program history.
Taiwo also broke the record for most games played for GW, with 131 total games. With her boards today, she sits just 19 short of 1,000 in her collegiate career, an incredible accomplishment for a player that has done so much for the Revolutionaries’ program.
On the flip side, the Dukes (18-9, 13-3 A10) had five players with double digit points, generating too much offense for the GW defense to handle. With the win, Duquesne extended their win streak to six games, and matched their program record for most conference wins in a season.
Both teams started the game hot, with over 20 points each in the first quarter. GW led 26-22 behind an early 13 points from Robertson, who went 3-for-4 from three point range in the frame. The Revolutionaries cooled down in the 2nd quarter, shooting only 33% from the field and 12.5% from three, which allowed the Dukes to erase the deficit and take the lead heading into the break.
GW freshman forward Kamari Sims and graduate center Madison Buford provided a much needed spark for GW off the bench, adding 11 and nine points, respectively.
While Duquesne spread out their scoring, it was star junior Megan McConnell leading the way with 18 points and four assists. The Dukes were able to capitalize on 12 GW turnovers, turning them into another 18 points. While the Revs only forced three fewer turnovers than the Dukes, they were unable to convert the other way, adding just five points to their total.
Despite some stellar individual performances by GW, they were unable to close the game out, giving up an 8-0 run with under four minutes left in the game extending the Duquesne lead to 11 points. Prior to the run, GW was only down three.
“I really believe that George Washington and what their record is, is not indicative of how good they are,” said Duquesne head coach Dan Burt following the game.
Overall, it was a solid performance from GW, who ended the game shooting 40.3% from the field and 30.8% from three point range. While they struggled to contain the Dukes’ explosive offense, the team showed signs of life against one of the top teams in the Atlantic 10, similar to how they played against George Mason last week.
GW will head home to play a struggling UMass (3-24, 1-14 A10) team on Saturday at noon looking to avoid a three game losing streak. That game can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on WRGW.
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