By: Alden Detmer
George Washington women’s basketball (18-17) advanced to the Great Eight of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT) for the first time in program history Friday night with a 71-62 win over Loyola Chicago (16-18).
The Revolutionaries are now the only program remaining representing the Atlantic-10 Conference in either men’s or women’s basketball.
“It means everything to be able to move forward during March,” said Sara Lewis, who commanded the floor with 25 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists. “Advancing is the best time to say, ‘Okay, we have to step up and get a win,’ and we’re going to continue to do that.”
Loyola Chicago was down five at the end of the first quarter but rallied back with a 7-0 run in the second quarter. Kamari Sims then drove to the basket for a buzzer-beating layup to knot the game 25-25 at the halftime break.
“There’s not that many teams who are still playing, so I challenged them to not succumb to fatigue because we have this opportunity,” GW women’s basketball coach Ganiyat Adeduntan said of her halftime locker-room speech. “If we let fatigue set in and make costly mistakes, [that] turns into easy baskets for them.”
Gabby Reynolds Launches a Triple from Deep (Photo by GW Athletics/Dylan Davies)
The Revolutionaries traded blows with the visitors, tying the score four times before two threes from Jaeda Wilson in the same spot helped GW pull away. The Ramblers struggled to find their footing early in the fourth quarter, going scoreless for more than two minutes as the Revs piled on buckets to make it a 15-point lead.
“Obviously, this [loss was] disappointing for a lot of reasons,” Loyola Chicago head coach Allison Guth said. “We made a strong push in the fourth quarter to come back, which speaks to the head, heart and toughness that have defined this group all season.”
GW remained focused in the last few minutes of play as the visitors attempted to mount a comeback with proper clock management, aggressive defense and a refusal to concede unnecessary fouls.
“Being able to see the joy in our players’ faces is what it’s all about,” Adeduntan said. “I coach because of them, not because of myself. Early on, it was very, very hard to see, but now we understand what it takes. It takes a lot of effort, passion, pride and resiliency. Winning is not easy.”
GW will look to keep its playoff run alive as they travel to Illinois State on Monday at 7:30 p.m. in the Great Eight of the WNIT.
