George Washington University Athletics
George Washington University
(7-2)
Illinois
(3-5)
GW Extends Winning Streak to Four; Beats Illinois, 72-56
12/4/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
WASHINGTON - In a Sunday matinee at the Charles E. Smith Center, the George Washington women's basketball team wrapped a perfect weekend at home and extended their winning streak to four by downing Illinois, 72-56. With the win GW is now 7-2 overall and 4-0 at home.
"We are excited to get another win here at home," said head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. "We have been playing pretty well and defending our home court. Getting a good win over a Big 10 opponent doesn't hurt. We talked a lot today about the process of continuing to work harder to get better and utilize all of these non-conference opportunities that we have over the next couple of weeks to get ready for the A-10. If Friday was any indication, it is going to be a tough road to getting back and winning another A-10 championship."
The Colonials put the game away early after a 23-10 first quarter, sparked by graduate student Lexi Martins off the bench, who picked up where she left off on Friday night. Martins had nine points and four rebounds in the first quarter alone, as GW shot 50 percent from the floor (8-of-16), 75 percent from three-point range (3-of-4) and a perfect 4-of-4 at the free throw line in the opening stanza.
Senior Hannah Schaible kept the pressure on Illinois in the second as her 12 first-half points in 17 minutes keyed a Colonials' offense that led 41-25 at the intermission. As hot as GW's offense started, the D kept the visitors ice cold. The Colonials limited Illinois to 10-of-32 shooting in the first half and used a 17-0 run midway through the second quarter to build a lead they would never relinquish. The defense clamped down further out of the break with Illinois' seven third quarter points marking a season low for a GW opponent.
After surging out of halftime to a 19-7 edge in the third, the Colonials cruised into the final quarter to win by 16 after leading by 28 entering the fourth. Schaible led the way for GW in the contest with 14 points, while Brianna Cummings' 12 and Caira Washington's 10 gave GW three double-figure scorers.
Washington had a game-high nine rebounds as part of a GW effort on the boards that dominated Illinois, 48-25, including 17-7 on the offensive glass. The home team's paint dominance led to a massive 19-3 edge in second chance points and a 24-14 cushion in points in the paint. The Colonials also swatted seven Fighting Illini shots; three by Washington.
"We are working really hard to make our offense all inclusive and tough to guard with a bunch of different options in the inside and outside," said Rizzotti. "Playing together and building that chemistry is going to be big. Paying attention to the details and reading defenses. We have continued to work pretty hard to share the basketball, find the open guy and make that extra pass. And in the end that is what is going to make us hard to guard, having so many different guys to worry about."
Illinois was led by Brandi Beasley's game highs of 16 points and five assists, while Courtney Joens gave the visitors 11 off the bench, but it was hardly enough as no other player scored more than six for the Fighting Illini. GW also limited Illinois to just 11 free throw tries (five made) and dominated the free throw battle by going a perfect 16-of-16 from the stripe.
Next up for GW lies back-to-back road games, first at American on Wednesday night at 7pm, followed by a trip to Brookings, South Dakota next Sunday to meet South Dakota State at 2pm. GW's next home game is a big time showdown with national powerhouse Stanford on December 21 at 7pm.
