This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Josh Solomon.
RICHMOND, Va. All February, head coach Jonathan Tsipis has said his team should be able to respond to any situation.
Saturday afternoon the Colonials traveled to Richmond to face the Spiders in a situation where a win would keep them in line for a top-four spot and double-bye in the Atlantic 10 tournament.
By the end of the game, GW would walk away with a 72-58 road win and a 10-4 conference record.
“We approached it all week with the mindset of ‘We have an opportunity that a lot of teams int he league don’t have to control our destiny,’” Tsipis said. “Our goal in these last three games was to do everything we can to try to get that top four seed.”
Midway through the first half, GW’s lead was just one point. But then the Colonials responded with a 21-6 run to end the half, led by a defensive turnovers and dominant post play. Freshman Caira Washington and sophomore Jonquel Jones found each other down low on the opposite block for easy points over a shorter Richmond team.
Alternating high-scoring games as usual, Jones took the spotlight, finishing with a career-high 23 points and 12 rebounds, in her only game this year without recording a personal foul.
“I just wanted to be aggressive,” Jones said. “I think as a team that was the mindset, not just me personally, just to be aggressive. Come out and set the tone and not wait for them to throw the first punches but to throw them ourselves.”
Washington would finish with 10 points on 5-7 shooting along with six rebounds. The two post players lead the team in scoring during conference play with 14.2 and 13.6 per game for Jones and Washington, respectively.
Graduate student Megan Nipe, still leading the team in scoring over the course of the season, picked up solid baskets off the bench, finishing with nine points, four rebounds and two assists.
The pace was set by graduate student Danni Jackson, who continued her constant attacking mentality to dictate the game. She finished with 16 points, six assists, one turnover and four rebounds in 28 minutes of play – the least of the day’s starters.
She was able to find her bigs early on, their first basket coming on a screen off of an inbounds play from Jackson to Washington. The second: a dish from behind the arc to Jones in the post, who quickly spun and took the fadeaway jumper.
“Our post player has always been relevant and they just really came out today and stopped their post player today,” Jackson said. “It was all really them and a little help from the guards today.”
In the second half, with the Spiders attempting a comeback, Jackson drained a mid-range jumper and on the next possession used a hesitation move to get into the lane, draw the contact and finish the layup – sending the entire bench to its feet.
On senior day, Richmond did have resolve, outscoring the Colonials 34-32 in the second half, forcing Tsipis to leave his starters in for most of the game. The GW defense grew tired, giving up six 3-pointers in the second half.
The Colonials will go on next to play St. Bonaventure in upstate New York for the Bonnies final home game of the season. After Saturday’s action, the Bonnie’s also improved to 10-4 in the conference, winning a tight game at home against George Mason.
“We got a group that’s won five games on the road in places where this group hasn’t won,” Tsipis said. “Coming over today and knowing the ebbs and flows, a little bit of craziness can happen on the road. I’m excited because I know they have that confidence going in there, whatever the end result is.”
