Women’s Basketball dominated by Dayton 71-53 for fourth A10 loss

By Ashleigh Tobin (@aktobin2)

In a battle between two teams hovering around the bottom of the Atlantic 10, Dayton beat George Washington in a 71-53 contest on Wednesday night in Ohio. With the loss, the Revolutionaries fall to 8-9 on the season and 1-4 in conference play. 

The Revs fell behind halfway through the first quarter and never found their footing offensively. Offensive struggles have been the story of GW’s season so far, as the team had another poor showing, shooting just 29% from the field and recording multiple scoring droughts of over two minutes. Star sophomore guard Nya Robertson led the scoring for GW with 22 points, going 44.4% from three point range, but it wasn’t enough to lead the Revs to victory. 

On the other side of the court, Dayton saw four players reach double digits, as they dominated in the paint and shot 43% from the field. The Flyers (8-9, 2-4 A10) gave the GW offense plenty of trouble around the rim, totaling five blocks. Led by junior guard Ivy Wolf, who had 16 points, the Dayton offense scored their highest total points in A10 play and shot 45% from three point range, more than 10%  over their season average. 

The beginning of the first quarter went back and forth, with Robertson hitting two early threes for GW to make the score 8-6, which is the last lead the Revolutionaries would hold in the game. Dayton dominated in the paint, with Mariah Perez (15 points) keeping the GW defense on their heels. At the end of the first, Dayton led by five points, but quickly extended that lead in the second quarter, as they forced multiple turnovers and got to the line with seven minutes left in the half. 

The Revolutionaries sent Dayton to the line often, giving them 27 free throws, which the Flyers converted into 22 points (81%). 

Despite multiple good looks from the GW offense and solid passing, the shots were simply not falling in their favor, allowing the Flyers to take a 15 point lead going into halftime. 

The deficit proved to be too much for the Revolutionaries to overcome, as they struggled to put together stops and get points on the board during the second half. The trouble defending down low allowed the Flyers’ offense to open up, as they recorded 17 assists in the game. 

Despite having one of the best rebounders in the conference in graduate forward Mayowa Taiwo, GW was outrebounded 42-31. Graduate guard Essence Brown led the team in rebounds with seven on the night, before fouling out of the game in the fourth quarter. Perez recorded 13 rebounds for Dayton, keeping GW from getting second chances offensively. 

After picking up their first conference win against St. Bonaventure on Sunday, where the offense looked promising, the loss feels like a massive step backwards. Head coach Caroline McCombs and the team will have plenty of things to work on in practice before their next game, starting with layups (22.2% in tonight’s game) and free throws (68.4% tonight). 

The Revolutionaries will return home and face Saint Louis on Saturday at 2 PM, looking to get back on track and get their first conference win at home. That game can be streamed on ESPN+ or listened to on WRGW.