Women’s basketball nets two weekend wins
The women’s basketball team swept its weekend action at the Navy Classic in Annapolis, Md., defeating foes Maine, 54-46, and Houston Baptist, 80-44. Utilizing a tenacious full-court press and sharp shooting from the perimeter, GW (5-3) has won four consecutive games for the first time since the 2008 season.
Led by senior forward Tara Booker, who made the all-tournament team by averaging nine and a half points over the Colonials’ two games, the Colonials shot 63.6 percent from behind the arc against Maine Friday afternoon. Junior guards Danni Jackson and Megan Nipe each added 10 points, and nine different players scored for the Colonials as head coach Mike Bozeman cycled through his bench. Defensively, GW tallied 11 steals from seven different players, and used a full court press to limit the Black Bears to just 28.6-percent shooting from the field in the second half.
“All in all, the defensive effort is what carried us tonight,” Bozeman said. “These guys are really working hard. It’s not just one person running up the stat sheet in that area. We were hitting the passing lanes, and our press was working pretty good for us in the second half. We’re getting that end of it, and I’m very confident that these guys are skilled and the shooting will come around.”
The Colonials were able to carry their momentum over to Saturday’s matchup against Houston Baptist, shooting a season-high 50.8 percent from the field and eight-for-16 from deep as GW raced out to a 42-23 lead by halftime. Senior guard Tiana Myers and freshman guard Chakecia Miller posted 15 and 10 points, respectively, coming off of the bench, while all 11 players who entered the game for the Colonials scored. The full-court press Saturday allowed GW to force 24 turnovers against Houston Baptist.
“It’s going to be one press or another press. And that’s what depth allows you to do,” said Bozeman. “If you look back over the history of basketball, any team that presses an awful lot has quality subs. And right now, we’re developing our bench to be quality.”
Number Crunch:
The number of turnovers the women’s basketball team forced in their victory over Houston Baptist Saturday night.
