This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Josh Solomon.
Every game, either out of excitement or frustration, head coach Jonathan Tsipis finds a time to remove his suit jacket – usually always early on in the first 20 minutes.
Against Division II Bluefield State on New Year’s Eve, Tsipis left his blue jacket on the entire half as his team headed into the locker room with a 31 point lead.
Seven players in double figures, a 48.9 field goal percentage, 61 rebounds, 25 assists and 33 turnovers forced, and by the end up the second half, GW had run away with a 114-55 win – just two points shy of tying a program record of 116. With the win they improve to 9-4 on the season, ready to take on George Mason and the rest of Atlantic 10 conference starting Thursday.
“You understand when you play a game like this that it’s the biggest game on Bluefield State’s schedule and you don’t want to give them any confidence. I thought that from the tip we were kind of in that attack mode on both ends of the floor,” Tsipis said.
The Colonials were able to play an uptempo game full of high-percentage looks, forced turnovers in the press and domination in the paint. Freshman forward Caira Washington who just had six and two points in her last two games, respectively, found her touch under the hoop, with 18 points and 11 rebounds – one of three double-doubles for the Colonials.
“Everything kind of just came together. It was very easy. We [Jonquel and I] had great looks and being able to play with her, that’s what we’re looking for a lot, being able to get inside looks for each other,” Washington said.
Sophomore Alexis Chandler led the team with a career-high 21 points, plus nine rebounds, as she was active on both sides of the ball all game. Everything was working for the sophomore as steals lead to layups, drives to free throws and screens to easy jump shots.
Sophomore Jonquel Jones, after a quiet game against American due to foul trouble, was able to clean up the glass with her height, sometimes grabbing her own misses, to end up with 18 points and 11 rebounds – eight offensive.
Reigning A-10 Rookie of the Week, Hannah Schaible, contributed with a double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds, plus three assists. DeLacy Anderson had a career-high 14 points, as she found herself with good looks under the rim as well.
The GW backcourt excelled, with a total of 25 assists to 16 turnovers, an impressive 1.56 ratio. Freshman Shannon Crainshaw led the way with six dimes, constantly finding her teammates on the run.
The last two Colonials in double figures were sophomore Aaliyah Brown, with a career-high 14 points and a team-high seven steals, while graduate student, and reigning A-10 Player of the Week, Danni Jackson put up 12 points with five assists on just one turnover.
“I came to this game already knowing that I just wanted to get my teammates involved and get everyone shots early so we could all do well today and go into Thursday with a lot of confidence,” Jackson said.
GW came out in a 1-3-1 press and also showed a 2-3 zone in the half court, that Tsipis said he wanted his team to practice rebounding in. The different looks led to an early Bluefield State timeout and a 14-0 start for the Colonials. In the end, it was their defense that led to their offense all afternoon at the Smith Center.
GW’s leading scorer, graduate student Megan Nipe, did not play with a lower body injury that kept her out against American over the weekend. Tsipis said that she is still listed as day-to-day, but is hopeful she will play versus George Mason, Jan. 2.
