Sunday, January 26
Washington, DC
12 p.m.
George Washington University
8-11,2-4Atlantic 10
50
vs
47
Massachusetts
14-6,4-3Atlantic 10
1
2
3
4
F
Massachusetts
18
8
13
8
47
George Washington
12
8
19
11
50
Women's Basketball Tops UMass, 50-47
1/26/2020 3:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Colonials clamp down on league's second-best offense for win
WASHINGTON - Amidst a challenging opening third of the conference schedule that has already seen GW women's basketball play three of the top four teams in the league, the conference's fifth-best team record-wise came to D.C. Sunday in the form of the UMass Minutewomen.
UMass owned the A-10's second-best offense in the league (69.9 ppg) entering play, in large part due to its ability to win the turnover battle with a +4.95 turnover margin. On GW's side, however, was the fact that the Colonials have never lost to the Minutewomen inside Smith Center. After Sunday's game, thanks to a late three-pointer from grad student Ariel Stephenson, that streak still stands.
Trailing 47-45 nearing the final minute of play, Stephenson had a clean look at a three from straightaway. The Prince George, Va., native and 1,000-point scorer as an undergrad at Wake Forest cooly buried the triple that gave GW a 48-47 lead, and after a pair of free throws from GW's other ACC transfer, Sydney Zambrotta, the Colonials held UMass to the floor without getting a shot attempt off in the game's final seconds to stay unbeaten all-time at home against their guests.
While Stephenson and Zambrotta closed the win, it was redshirt freshman Mayowa Taiwo who carried the load for much of the way. Taiwo paced GW with 14 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 4-of-5 from the field (.800).
A first quarter that saw the Minutewomen grab an early 18-12 lead, yielded to a defensive struggle in the second that sent the teams to the halftime lockerroom with UMass owning the same six-point margin, 26-20, and with a familiar edge in the turnover game with just four miscues compared to the home team's 11.
GW discovered its offense in the third and netted nearly as many points in the quarter (19) as in the opening two, to send the teams into the final stanza knotted at 39-39. The Colonials also tipped the turnover scale in the second half, and committed just four TOs in the game's final 20 minutes, compared to the visitor's six.
The Minutewomen were once again led by their top markswoman, Hailey Leidel, who after entering play averaging 16.7 points per game on 41.5% shooting from beyond the arc, brought her best to Foggy Bottom with 19 points on 5-of-9 (.555) from outside.
The GW D held UMass almost 23 points below their season average by limiting them to 17-of-61 shooting from the floor (.279). The Minutewomen's other three double-digit scorers entering the game, Sam Breen (16.1), Destiney Philoxy (12.4) and Vashnie Perry (10.0) combined for just 19 points on 6-of-29 shooting.
The Saint Joseph's Hawks loom next for the Buff & Blue in Philadelphia on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Colonials will be looking to snap a mini two-game slide versus the Hawks after dropping a pair of contests to Saint Joseph's last season. GW's last win against Saint Joseph's was a significant one, having downed the Hawks in the A-10 Championship Finals in 2018 to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
UMass owned the A-10's second-best offense in the league (69.9 ppg) entering play, in large part due to its ability to win the turnover battle with a +4.95 turnover margin. On GW's side, however, was the fact that the Colonials have never lost to the Minutewomen inside Smith Center. After Sunday's game, thanks to a late three-pointer from grad student Ariel Stephenson, that streak still stands.
Trailing 47-45 nearing the final minute of play, Stephenson had a clean look at a three from straightaway. The Prince George, Va., native and 1,000-point scorer as an undergrad at Wake Forest cooly buried the triple that gave GW a 48-47 lead, and after a pair of free throws from GW's other ACC transfer, Sydney Zambrotta, the Colonials held UMass to the floor without getting a shot attempt off in the game's final seconds to stay unbeaten all-time at home against their guests.
While Stephenson and Zambrotta closed the win, it was redshirt freshman Mayowa Taiwo who carried the load for much of the way. Taiwo paced GW with 14 points and eight rebounds, while shooting 4-of-5 from the field (.800).
A first quarter that saw the Minutewomen grab an early 18-12 lead, yielded to a defensive struggle in the second that sent the teams to the halftime lockerroom with UMass owning the same six-point margin, 26-20, and with a familiar edge in the turnover game with just four miscues compared to the home team's 11.
GW discovered its offense in the third and netted nearly as many points in the quarter (19) as in the opening two, to send the teams into the final stanza knotted at 39-39. The Colonials also tipped the turnover scale in the second half, and committed just four TOs in the game's final 20 minutes, compared to the visitor's six.
The Minutewomen were once again led by their top markswoman, Hailey Leidel, who after entering play averaging 16.7 points per game on 41.5% shooting from beyond the arc, brought her best to Foggy Bottom with 19 points on 5-of-9 (.555) from outside.
The GW D held UMass almost 23 points below their season average by limiting them to 17-of-61 shooting from the floor (.279). The Minutewomen's other three double-digit scorers entering the game, Sam Breen (16.1), Destiney Philoxy (12.4) and Vashnie Perry (10.0) combined for just 19 points on 6-of-29 shooting.
The Saint Joseph's Hawks loom next for the Buff & Blue in Philadelphia on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. The Colonials will be looking to snap a mini two-game slide versus the Hawks after dropping a pair of contests to Saint Joseph's last season. GW's last win against Saint Joseph's was a significant one, having downed the Hawks in the A-10 Championship Finals in 2018 to clinch an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Team Stats
UMass
GWU
FG%
.279
.370
3FG%
.348
.333
FT%
.625
.786
RB
38
38
TO
10
16
STL
8
3
Game Leaders
Scoring
Pts
14
FGM
4
3FGM
0
FTM
6
Pts
7
FGM
1
3FGM
1
FTM
4
Pts
7
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Pts
6
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Women's BasketballF
/ Women's BasketballG
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