Women's Basketball Topped by Saint Joseph's

Sunday, February 10

Washington, D.C.

12 p.m.

George Washington University

8-16 (5-6)

Saint Joseph's

8-15 (4-6)

Saint Joseph's

George Washington

2/10/2019 2:49:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mokwuah nets career-high 16 in second straight double-digit effort

WASHINGTON - The annual #Play4Kay game and a postgame autograph session brought a big crowd to the Charles E. Smith Center for Sunday's matinee, and the George Washington women's basketball team gave fans every reason to watch intently through the finish. After falling behind by as many as 10 late in the third quarter, a 9-0 run keyed by senior Mei-Lyn Bautista and first-year Kayla Mokwuah brought the Colonials back in it, and with 5:35 to play the teams found themselves deadlocked at 35 to set the stage for a nail-biting finish. The Buff and Blue just couldn't pull ahead, though, as the Hawks escaped with a 41-38 win in D.C.

Down five with less than two minutes to play, redshirt-sophomore Olivia Gumbs brought the margin to four with a free throw. After a Saint Joseph's turnover, Mokwuah sunk the final two of her career-high 16 points with a bucket in the lane with 1:10 to go. A Mokwuah game-tying attempt with :11 seconds to play wouldn't fall, and the Hawks answered on the other end with a free throw to make it a three-point game with GW in possession.

In the waning seconds, Bautista had the ball in the corner by her bench looking to spot up for the game-tying three, but as she was trying to launch, a foul was called on the floor instead to send her to the line instead for two free throws. When the first didn't fall, Bautista missed the second on purpose hoping for a GW rebound and a final try, but the Hawks secured the board and the clock expired.

The end was fitting for a game where defense ruled, as neither club made more than one-third of its shots from the floor. A combined 33 turnovers also stymied the scoring. Mokwuah reached double figures for the Colonials, but the Buff and Blue's next leading scorer was Olivia Gumbs with nine (game-high eight rebounds). Thanks to Mokwuah and Gumbs, GW was able to dominate inside, with a 24-16 edge in points in the paint, a 40-28 rebounding edge, and an 11-0 shutout in second chance points. Alas, the Hawks made one more field goal in the same number of attempts as GW (SJU: 16-of-48, GW: 15-of-48), accounting for the difference in the one possession game.

Saint Joseph's Mary Sheehan netted 14 to lead the visitors, while Alyssa Monaghan finished with eight points and a game-high seven assists, including the final free throw that pushed their lead from two to three with :03 seconds to play.

As GW fights for all-important playoff seeding with five games left on the A-10 docket, the team has a full week off to prepare for rival Dayton next Sunday at 12 noon in Ohio on ESPNU. The Colonials earned one of their biggest wins of the season against the Flyers in the District back on January 12th, 46-45.