George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
<b>RUTGERS</b>
GW Shocks Rutgers, 45-43, to End Eight-Game Slide
12/30/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Dec. 30, 2009
WBB vs. Rutgers Recap - 12-30-09WASHINGTON - The George Washington women's basketball team went on a late 13-0 run and held off Rutgers over the final minute to earn its first victory in nine games with a 45-43 win over the Scarlet Knights at Charles E. Smith Center Wednesday night.
The victory snaps an eight-game losing skid for GW (3-8), which also beat its former Atlantic 10 rival for the first time in five meetings and ninth time in the 37-game series. Rutgers finishes its non-conference schedule at 8-6.
Trailing 40-32 with 10:05 to play, the Colonials held the Scarlet Knights scoreless for more than nine minutes and scored 13 unanswered points to turn an eight-point deficit into a 45-40 lead with 1:12 remaining.
Freshman Janine Davis gave GW its first lead, 41-40, with a shot-clock beating three pointer with 3:39 left, redshirt freshman Brooke Wilson converted a reverse putback two minutes later and rookie Shi-Heria Shipp finished a lay-in off a well-designed sideline out-of-bounds play for the five-point edge with 72 ticks left.
Nikki Speed scored to get Rutgers within a possession at 45-42 with 1:01 left to set up a frantic final minute.
Both teams committed turnovers on their ensuing possessions, forcing the Scarlet Knights to send Davis to the foul line with 27.4 seconds left. Davis missed the front end and Rutgers called timeout on the rebound with 25.8 seconds to play. RU missed four shots, but Erica Wheeler was fouled on a fifth attempt with 2.0 seconds. Wheeler converted the first to make it 45-43, but April Sykes committed a lane violation on the back end to give GW possession.
Tiana Myers was fouled on the inbound pass with 1.4 seconds to go and missed the front end, but Nikki Speed couldn't manage to get a shot off before time expired to send the Colonials into a frenzied celebration.
Sophomore Kay-Kay Allums hit 3-of-4 three pointers and led the Colonials with 13 points. Myers and sophomore Sara Mostafa added eight points apiece, followed by seven points and five assists from Davis. Wilson grabbed a game-high nine rebounds and added four assists and four steals.
Rutgers was paced by Brittany Ray's 14 points, followed by 13 from Wheeler.
RU shot 50.0 percent in the first half and led 28-17 at the break. Rashidat Junaid, who chipped in 10 points, converted in the paint to give the Scarlet Knights their largest lead of the game, 30-17, just 24 seconds into the second half.
Allums scored 10 straight points, including back-to-back triples, to pull GW back to 30-27 at the 13:42 mark. Ray and Wheeler silenced the rally with consecutive three pointers to push the margin back to nine. GW then limited RU to only three more field goals over the final 12 minutes to score the upset.
GW held RU to 20.7 percent shooting (6-29) in the second half and a season-low 34.0 percent (18-53) for the game.
The victory gives GW its 228th win of a decade in which it reached the postseason all 10 years, including eight NCAA Tournaments and back-to-back Sweet 16 appearances in 2007 and 2008.
The Colonials return to action Saturday as part of a basketball doubleheader at Charles E. Smith Center. The GW women host Rice at 12:00 pm with the GW men to host Howard at approximately 2:30 pm.
