With exactly five minutes to play at the Smith Center Tuesday, Saint Louis senior center Amanda Kemezys hit a layup to put her team up 15, a seemingly insurmountable deficit for GW. Saint Louis had manhandled GW on defense all night, forcing 20 turnovers and turning them into 22 points. Whenever GW managed to get any rhythm on offense, the Billikens would respond with a basket, a forced turnover or both.
With so little time left, it would have been easy for GW to concede the game and look forward to Friday’s game against Richmond. During a timeout, GW head coach Mike Bozeman asked his team just that.
“I asked them that, if they were ready to quit, and it was a resounding no,” Bozeman said, “There was no quit, no quit in that huddle.”
Bozeman’s team responded, going on a 14-2 run over the next four and a half minutes, closing Saint Louis’ 15-point lead to three with 29 seconds left in the game, largely on the back of sophomore Kay-Kay Allums who scored half of GW’s final 16 points over the last five minutes of the game on a layup and a pair of threes, the second of which capped the 14-2 run and pulled the Colonials to within a basket.
The comeback ultimately proved to be too little, too late for the Colonials. Saint Louis made just enough of its free throws to hold off GW and get the Billkens’ first ever win over the Colonials, 65-60.
Despite the loss, GW’s (6-19, 3-9 Atlantic 10) late-game run left a lot to feel good about for Bozeman.
“I’ll be honest with you. I believe I was more upset with the team after the win against Fordham than I am now after the loss to Saint Louis. We’re not in a position where we can strictly look for moral victories; but it’s the way we’re playing that I’m motivated by,” Bozeman said. “That’s encouraging to me… We have to be encouraged by the fight in the team and the effort on that floor.”
GW’s play similarly impressed Saint Louis coach Shimmy Gray-Miller.
“They play very, very hard,” Gray-Miller said. “Their record is no indicator of their talent or how hard they play.”
With a win and a loss by either Rhode Island or La Salle, the Colonials could have clinched a berth in next week’s A-10 tournament. Instead, GW will try to clinch a spot this weekend in back-to-back games Friday against Richmond and Saturday on the road at Temple.
Tip-off for Friday’s game against Richmond is set for noon at the Smith Center. The game was initially scheduled for Feb. 10 but was pushed back due to heavy snowfall.
