Women's Basketball Heads Into Holiday Break With 61-51 Win Over Coppin St.

Thursday, December 22

Washington, DC

12:00 PM

George Washington University

8-5,0-0Atlantic 10

Coppin State

3-10,0-0MEAC

Coppin St.

George Washington

Women's Basketball Heads Into Holiday Break With 61-51 Win Over Coppin St.

12/22/2022 2:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Mia Lakstigala leads all scorers with 21 points

WASHINGTON - The Coppin St. Eagles visited Smith Center for a pre-holiday afternoon matinee on Thursday, and while they were able to knot up the homesteading GW squad for the first 20 minutes, Mayowa Taiwo, Mia Lakstigala and company pulled away for the 61-51 win to conclude the non-conference slate of the schedule at 8-5.

A 9-0 start to the second half sent GDUB off and running into a week-plus break from competition with momentum, as Lakstigala finished with a game-high and career-high tying 21 points, while Taiwo continued her assault on GW's all-time rebounding leaderboard with another 11 boards to lead the team. After eclipsing the 600-career rebound mark in her last game, at her current pace the redshirt senior from Hanover, MD can challenge for the 750-rebound mark by season's end; a mark that just 11 players in program history have eclipsed.

George Washington built a 16-point lead at its largest and led 52-36 with 9:25 to play, but the Eagles didn't lay down. An 13-2 Coppin St. run closed the gap to five with just under four minutes to play, but GW thwarted the rally to close out the double-digit win.

The GW defense held Coppin's Jewel Watkins to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting, after the sophomore guard entered play averaging 14.3 points per game, including 22.0 in her last four contests. On the offensive side of the court, led by Lakstigala's five three-pointers, GW connected on 40% of its triple tries to finish at a higher clip from three-point range than from the floor at large (.386). Taiwo, Essence Brown and Nya Lok each chipped in eight points to back Lakstigala's effort.

GW closed the non-conference slate with four wins in its last five games since the calendar turned to December, and a new season now beckons as the new year approaches. The Buff and Blue will open A-10 play on New Year's Eve day at noon at Richmond live on ESPN+.