George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
<b>RICHMOND</b>
GW Can't Stop Richmond Trio in 78-54 Loss
2/26/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2010
WASHINGTON - The George Washington women's basketball team surrendered 54 points to Richmond's starting backcourt trio of Abby Oliver, Brittani Shells and Kara Powell in a 78-54 loss in its home finale at Charles E. Smith Center Friday afternoon.
Oliver scored a career-high 27 points, Atlantic 10 leading scorer Brittani Shells added 17 and Powell chipped in 10 to equal the Colonials' output. GW was led by freshman Shi-Heria Shipp's 12 points, followed 10 points and nine rebounds each from sophomore Sara Mostafa and redshirt freshman Brooke Wilson.
The afternoon contest was a make-up from the previously scheduled Feb. 10 game, which was postponed due to the blizzard that hit the East Coast that week.
GW (9-20, 3-10 A-10) heads to Philadelphia to battle Temple in its regular-season finale Saturday at 1:00 pm. The Colonials currently sit 11th in the league standings and need a victory over the Owls, a loss by Rhode Island, or losses by both Fordham and La Salle to secure a bid in the A-10 Championship, hosted at The Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD, March 5-8.
The Colonials shot 52.2 percent in the first half, but committed 16 turnovers and allowed the Spiders' backcourt trio to score 26 points to trail 41-27 at halftime. GW cooled to 23.3 percent in the second half, including two field goals over the final 11:55, while Oliver, Shells and Powell added another 28 as Richmond (17-11, 6-7 A-10) cruised to its second straight season sweep of GW.
GW and UR took some time adjusting to the early start as both teams' combined to miss their first 11 shots, with the Colonials committing eight turnovers on their opening nine possessions and not scoring for more than six and a half minutes to begin the game. Kara Powell made back-to-back three-pointers to help the Spiders break an 0-for-9 start and jump ahead 11-2.
The teams' then came alive with GW hitting 12-of-16 shots to end the period, but UR countered with 16-of-23 field goals, including a late 8-0 run, to seize the 14-point cushion at the break. The 16 first-half turnovers led to 15 points for the Spiders to negate the best shooting half for the Colonials the second half of their season-opener at North Texas.
GW would get no closer than 56-44 on freshman Megan Nipe's jumper with 11:55 remaining. The Colonials shot 2-of-20 the rest of way to finish at 35.8 percent from the field on the afternoon. GW held a rebounding advantage, 34-32, for a season-best third consecutive game.
