By Alden Detmer
The George Washington women’s basketball team (4-5) beat the Dayton Flyers (4-4) in a methodical defensive victory 54-42 at the Charles E. Smith Center on Wednesday evening.
The Revs are coming off a competitive trip to the Cayman Islands Classic last weekend, where GW forced overtime in a 77-83 loss to the University of Miami, while also clutching a win 81-67 to the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. GW women’s basketball coach Ganiyat Adenduntan said she thought the team built upon the trip’s success against Dayton, both on and off the court.
“I’m really proud of our team,” Adenduntan said. “We’ve been talking about giving maximum effort, but we don’t want to just be talkers. We want to be doers. We want to show it with our actions. [Tonight,] I thought we executed our game plan, and we created second chance opportunities when our offense wasn’t where we wanted it to be.”
The first quarter was a story of three point shooting, with Dayton’s Ajok Madol opening the scoring on a clean three-pointer. Gabby Reynolds answered back with a three-pointer of her own, but both teams struggled offensively in the first quarter. The score ended with GW up 11-10 at the end of the first 10 minutes.
Gabby Reynolds Shoots Over A Defender (Photo by: Greg Fiume)
The Flyers were able to keep up with the Revolutionaries in the beginning of the second quarter, but they quickly faded as GW’s defense clamped down. The Revs were able to force turnovers and prevent shots from even happening; the Flyers only got off 12 shots in the 2nd quarter, with GW shooting 23 by comparison. The Revs broke out on a 14-2 run and finished the half 29-19 on a clutch buzzer-beating three by Jaeda Wilson.
“Defense,” Coach Adenduntan said. “That’s where it starts. We finished plays again, we had all five bodies [under the basket] helping us box out. In addition, we’re a team that really emphasizes taking great shots for ourselves, finding people when they’re open. We kept talking about it in huddles.”
After the halftime break, Dayton rolled out a more aggressive defense, including a few spurts of back court press. However, the Revs continued to find open shots and only lost three points off their double-digit lead at the halftime break.
On the day, Sara Lewis notched a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Reynolds, who scored a career-high 27 points in the Cayman Islands, added 19 points and 7 rebounds against the Flyers.
“Coach G and I have had several conversations about what she expects of me and what I expect for myself,” Reynolds said. “Going into the Howard game, sitting out and not starting, was a huge motivator for me. I knew something had to click for me to reach my full potential. Not that I have reached my full potential yet, there’s obviously a lot more growth for me to do, but I think several conversations with Coach G have really helped motivate me.”
The Revolutionaries maintained their lead throughout the fourth quarter, yet the Flyers didn’t quit. Down as much as 11 with seconds left, Dayton women’s basketball coach Tamika Williams-Jeter continued calling timeouts to draw up plays. GW ended victorious, with 54-42 being the final tally.
GW faces their next test at home against Brown University this Saturday.
