George Washington University
<b>VILLANOVA</b>
GW Uses Late Run to Knock Off Villanova, 67-60
1/21/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2009
WASHINGTON, DC - Five players reached double-figures, led by senior Antelia Parrish's 14 points, to help George Washington pull away late from hot-shooting Laura Kurz and the Villanova Wildcats for a 67-60 victory in both teams' non-conference finale at Charles E. Smith Center Wednesday night.
Seniors Jessica Adair and Yolanda Lavender netted 12 points apiece, redshirt sophomore Ivy Abiona scored 11 and senior Jazmine Adair added 10 as the Colonials ran their winning streak to three games. It is the first time since a Jan. 2008 victory over Charlotte that five GW players reached double-digits in scoring.
GW (10-8) struggled to find an answer for Villanova's leading scorer Laura Kurz, who helped the Wildcats rally with 24 second-half points en route to a game-high 29 on 12-of-19 shooting. After scoring a season-low-tying 13 first-half points, the Wildcats rained a barrage of nine 3-pointers the final 20 minutes to grab a lead after trailing by nine, 22-13, at halftime.
The Wildcats led 5-3 on a Kurz drive with 17:09 left in the first half, but the Colonials allowed only one field goal over the next 13:36 and used a 14-4 run to grab a 17-9 lead with less than four minutes in the period. Getty and Kurz scored consecutive baskets in the lane to move within 17-13, but Jazmine Adair converted a pair in the paint around a Lavender free throw to give GW the nine-point edge at the break.
Villanova (10-8) found its offensive rhythm to start the second half, connecting on a trio of three-pointers during an 11-4 spurt to tie the game at 26-26 by the 16:03 mark. The teams' traded five ties and 10 lead changes the next 13 minutes until GW broke the game open with a 12-0 run following the under 4 media timeout.
The Wildcats led 50-49 on a short jumper from Kurz with 3:26 to play, but Abiona tipped-in a Jessica Adair miss on the other end to ignite the rally and give the Colonials the lead for good. Parrish scored on the break and Jessica Adair converted a three-point play to make it 56-50 with 1:58 left and GW made 11-of-14 free throws down the stretch to counter four late Villanova baskets.
The teams' combined to shoot 53 percent in the second half after a dismal 30 percent combined effort in the first half. GW, which finished 23-of-48 (47.9 percent) from the floor and 18-of-24 (75 percent) at the foul line for the night, outrebounded Villanova, 40-26, and committed just 13 turnovers, its second fewest of the season.
GW returns to Atlantic 10 Conference action Saturday, Jan. 24, when it hosts Duquesne at 2:00 pm.
