This post was written by Hatchet Reporter Neil Sharma.
The GW women’s basketball team returned home Tuesday for the first time in nearly three weeks, during which the Colonials lost five straight road games. So when the Colonials began the second half on a 12-3 run to pull ahead of visiting Marshall by seven points, it seemed as though GW’s homecoming might have put them back on the winning track.
But after sophomore Sarah Mostafa hit a jumper to put GW ahead by six with 10:55 to play, the Colonials failed to score again until the game’s final 10 seconds, allowing Marshall to go on an unbroken run that ultimately resulted in 56-47 win for the Thundering Herd.
“We played good basketball for 27 minutes,” head coach Mike Bozeman said. “The problem is the game is 40. So there’s 13 minutes right there where we were in a state of mental lapse.”
The game started out with a high level of intensity, with both teams scoring 10 points in the game’s first five minutes. The teams stayed evenly matched for the remainder of the half, neither of them leading by more than a basket. Sophomores Mostafa and Tiana Myers, who ended up leading the team with 12 and 14 points, respectively, led the Colonials’ (2-6) offense, while most of Marshall’s scoring came from junior Mystee Dale, who ended up leading all scorers with 15 points.
The Thundering Herd threw a variety of defenses at GW, including a full-court press, half-court trap and 2-3 zone, and held a 30-28 lead going into halftime.
“Pretty much Marshall was exactly what we thought and expected,” Bozeman said. “I thought my coaching staff did a great job with the scouting. I thought the miscues in the first half hampered us and kept the score pretty tight.”
In the second half, GW came out playing spirited on both the offensive and defensive ends, regaining the lead and seeming to take control of the game, but went ice cold after Mostafa’s baseline jumper. The Colonials missed 14 field goals and four free throws over the next 10:45. During that time, Marshall scored 17 unanswered points and took the lead for good.
“In the beginning of the second half we just executed our plays and did what the coaching staff asked us to do,” Myers said. “As the second half progressed I think we just got tired and we just lost sight of what he asked us.”
Bozeman had similar thoughts.
“From that point on it seemed that the team got a little complacent and we stopped executing,” Bozeman said. “Time after time again instruction was given from the bench, and when you’re dealing with the youth that we have I guess part of the biggest challenge is maintaining the focus for an entire game.”
The loss was GW’s sixth straight, but Bozeman said he is encouraged by the team’s attitude and hopes the team’s fans will be patient as they try to get on track.
“These girls, they’re fighting it,” the second-year coach said. “I just want to encourage the George Washington community to hang with these girls. Hang with us because we’re fighting it. We’re gonna fight it every game.”
The Colonials do not play again until Dec. 20, when they will get another chance to snap their losing streak in home game against Mount St. Mary’s. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. start.
