This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Nora Princiotti.

The Colonials rallied from a seven-point halftime deficit to defeat Atlantic 10 leader Duquesne 80-68 on the road Wednesday.

GW (16-8, 7-3) pushed the Dukes (16-7, 8-2) around in the paint and avenged 53-59 double-overtime loss last year in the Smith Center.

With frontcourt partner, sophomore Jonquel Jones, double-covered most of the night, freshman Caira Washington was unstoppable, putting up a game-high 22 points and making it a double-double with 14 boards.

“My mindset coming into the game was to keep moving and get to open spots. And to be active more active on offensive boards and the defensive end too,” Washington said.

The game was a battle of two styles. GW scores over 77 points per game and is a league second-best in rebounding, while Duquesne limits opponents to an average 55.3 points per game and boasts the A-10’s third-best rebounding defense. But the Colonials controlled the tempo, particularly in the second half, in which they scored 49 points.

How? GW cleaned up on the boards, outrebounding the Dukes 44 to 26.

“[Rebounding] triggers our transition game. But I think a big part of it is it’s our identity. It’s something we chart pretty closely,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said.

But the statement win wasn’t always so certain; the game made something of a 180-degree turn before it swung the Colonials way.

GW burst out of the gate with an 8-0 run, but trailed Duquesne 38-31 by halftime. The Colonials had made two more field goals than the Dukes, but the Dukes had four 3-pointers to GW’s nil, and had outscored GW 8-1 at the charity stripe.

“I would’ve been surprised if we had [panicked], because even when we got down 10, there was still a very good sense of we’re right in the game, we just need to continue to attack and play off some things off the double-team,” Tsipis said.

But, aided by an effective zone defense and an increase in the pace of play, GW closed the gap for graduate student Megan Nipe to tie it with a jumper at 11:41 to play.

Duquesne answered with a quick bucket, which graduate student Brooke Wilson followed with a jumper at the baseline to tie it at 57 apiece.

Duquesne airballed its next shot, but Danni Jackson couldn’t answer – a forced jumper wouldn’t fall. She stole the ball back in transition and fed Nipe on the outside, looking for three. Again, the shot was no good, but there was Jones, who snagged the rebound and laid it up, putting her team ahead for good 59-57.

Nipe would have 13 points on the night, putting her one over the 1,000 point mark in her GW career.

“To be honest, after Christmas, when I got hurt I wasn’t really sure if it was something that was going to happen while I was still here. I knew I was close when the game started, but I wasn’t going to just try to keep scoring just to get it. I’d rather win the game than get my 1,000th point, but it’s pretty awesome that it could happen in the same game,” Nipe said.

It was a statement win for the Colonials, whose identity was a bit unclear after dropping games to Saint Joseph’s and La Salle with an injury-ridden squad. This, though, gets them back into contention at the top of the A-10 standings, following meaningless wins against Massachusetts and Rhode Island at the bottom of the pack.

The Colonials will look to build off this huge win Saturday at Fordham at 2 p.m.