Women's Basketball Motors Past Minutewomen, 66-59

Wednesday, February 20

Amherst, Mass.

7 p.m.

George Washington University

9-17, 6-7 A-10

Massachusetts

13-14, 5-8 A-10

George Washington

Massachusetts

2/20/2019 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Mahoney nails seven 3s, Mokwuah adds first career double-double

AMHERST, Mass. - GW women's basketball put the clamps down on Massachusetts in the first half on Wednesday night and then went on a shooting bonanza in the second half to beat the Minutewomen, 66-59.

Senior Kelsi Mahoney was the catalyst offensively, nailing a career-high seven 3-pointers (on 12 attempts) en route to a career-high 21 points. She also added seven rebounds and a trio of assists.

Mahoney was joined in double figures by first-year Kayla Mokwuah, who recorded her first career double-double in a monster game featuring 15 points and 16 rebounds. Playing in front of over 30 friends and family, Mokwuah also added four blocks and dished out a pair of assists.

Sophomore Neila Luma gave GW three double-figure scorers with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, all of which came after halftime. First-year Maddie Loder returned after missing Sunday's game while in concussion protocol and added seven straight points in the third quarter.

Senior floor general Mei-Lyn Bautista served her customary role as distributor, tying a season high with eight assists against one turnover. She also added five points and four rebounds.

Defense ruled the first half with GW seeing just three players score en route to a 22-12 halftime edge. Mahoney banged home three 3s in the opening seven minutes before Mokwuah and redshirt sophomore Olivia Gumbs combined to score GW's final 11 points of the half.

But it was the Colonials' first-half defense that set the tone, limiting UMass to 5-of-27 (18.5 percent) shooting and holding the Minutewomen without a point for the final 6:48 of the first half. UMass, which entered the day as the league's top 3-point shooting team, was 0-for-13 from deep before halftime and finished the day just 2-of-23 (6.7 percent) from beyond the arc.

Out of intermission, GW posted its best offensive quarter of the entire season, racking up 31 points on 11-of-15 shooting, including four 3s. Mahoney hit two more triples in the opening five minutes, the latter of which gave the Buff & Blue its largest lead, 40-16, with 5:30 remaining in the quarter.

The Colonials held a 53-35 edge going into the fourth quarter, and Mahoney put away any doubt with consecutive 3s in the first two minutes of the fourth quarter to put GW up by 24 again, 59-35. UMass closed the game on a 14-2 run in the final two minutes to make the final score much closer than the majority of the game.

GW shot an even 40.0 percent (24-of-60) for the day, including 10-of-28 (35.7 percent) from three. The Colonials also tied a season best with 21 assists on 24 made field goals and held UMass to 34.4 percent (22-of-64) from the floor.

The win provided a crucial tiebreaker to GW with the Minutewomen and Colonials entering the night in a three-way tie with George Mason for the eight seed in the A-10, which is the last first-round hosting seed in the upcoming tournament.

Up next, the Colonials head back to Smith Center for their final two home games of the regular season, hosting St. Bonaventure for Senior Day on Sunday at 12 p.m. and Duquesne next Wednesday at 7 p.m.