Women’s basketball wins on Opening Night with new additions 

Photo Credit: Greg Fiume

By: Aayush Dhurka

After a resounding 78-66 victory over Delaware, women’s basketball is back thanks to the energy of the Revolutionaries’ new squad. 

The highly touted first year Gabby Reynolds took the spotlight for the Revolutionaries, finishing with 17 points on an efficient 7/10 shooting from the floor. Makayla Andrews also led the team in scoring with 24 points while shooting a healthy 50% from the field. With Monday’s win, the Revolutionaries pick up a strong win to start the season before traveling across the District to face off against Howard on Friday. 

Coming into Monday’s game, the Revolutionaries’ five transfers were all the attention. Two of the five transfers started, Paige Mott (Northwestern) and Makayla Andrews (Lafayette), alongside Gabby Reynolds, who arrived on Foggy Bottom as Michigan’s Miss Basketball. The other two starting spots were filled by two returning Revolutionaries, Sara Lewis and Kamari Sims. 

The Revolutionaries also got some supporting help off the bench from key transfers Mariona Planes Fortuny (Bryant) and Filipa Calisto (New Mexico Junior College), as well as returners like junior forward Caia Loving and senior veteran guard Maxine Engel. 

During the first quarter, the Blue Hens gave the Revs a run for their money, knocking down baskets every single time the Revs scored. The Blue Hen defense threw a tricky zone defense on almost every GW possession, and it looked as if GW was going to have a tough match only up nine going into halftime.

Once the 2nd half started rolling, GW put in effort on every single possession and had great communication visible on the defensive end, impressive for such a new team playing its first regular season game. A pair of threes from Engel sent the crowd into a frenzy, which included former Revolutionaries, Mayowa Taiwo, Maren Durant, Essence Brown and Faith Blethen. 

“It was exciting…they’re all in the area, sometimes they can come and practice with us too.” Head Coach Caroline McCombs said of her former players. “They’re supportive and I appreciate that.”

The Revs dominated on the glass with a total of 46 rebounds compared to Delaware’s 31 and were able to consistently drive to the basket later on in the game. 

“We connected, played together, and I think we continue to work on that stuff every day, including relationships off the court, but also on the floor, and so it shows in the way we play and share the ball,’ McCombs said. 

The highlight player of tonight’s game was Makayla Andrews, who finished with a team high 24 points while shooting 8/16 in her first game with GW. She showcased her ability to knock down the mid range jumper and get to the free throw line, knocking down eight of nine from the charity stripe. 

“We just had fun, we had a lot of energy from the get go, ” Andrews said. “We felt really connected out there, and I can only give props to my teammates who found me and got me open and it just flowed throughout the game.”

Other major highlights of the game consisted of the rookie Gabby Reynolds, who finished 17 points & 3 assists, taking smart shots down the stretch.

“Gabby has grown so much,” Planes-Fortuny said of her new teammate. “She’s leading us and we know what she’s capable of and she showed it tonight; that’s just the beginning.”

Planes-Fortuny also had a solid GW debut finishing with 14 points, 6 rebounds, going 6/8 from the free throw line in just 18 minutes off the bench. Sara Lewis, led GW on the glass with 8 defensive rebounds, including many strong rebounds in the fourth quarter.

During the postgame press conference, Mariona Planes-Fortuny described the team’s connection and off-ball movement saying: “We’ve been working on it a lot, so working off each other, knowing what the other person wants to do, and where the ball is gonna be, that’s what we focused on.” 

While there are still a few rough patches on the team that can definitely be improved through the season, tonight was a statement win by a Revolutionaries team that had its doubters coming in.

The Revolutionaries will make the short trip east Friday to play against the Howard Bison. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and WRGW Sports will have live blog coverage.