But thanks to a 30-point, 16-rebound night from sophomore Jonquel Jones and clutch shots in overtime by graduate students Danni Jackson and Megan Nipe, the Colonials earned their first A-10 quarterfinals win since 2008, 82-79.

“When you’ve gone into each others’ home court and taken a game, you knew it’d be tooth and nail,” Tsipis said. “You have a Saint Joe’s team that knows what it takes to make a run like they did last year in the A-10 tournament. And I think you have our team that no matter the circumstance of the game showed what I think we’ve done the whole year, that ability to respond.”

Jackson screamed out in disgust after missing a free throw in the final minute of overtime, her team trying to pad their single-digit lead.

But by then, the point guard had already nailed the key shots for her team, tying the game with 50 seconds left in regulation on two free throws that forced the overtime period.

“If you don’t have nerves at this stage, something’s not right. You’re not ready,” Jackson said.

Jackson’s leadership came up huge down the stretch, as she went on to record 17 points, seven assists and three rebounds.

It wasn’t until two huge ‘and-one’ plays in the second half, though, that the Colonials looked ready to knockoff the defending A-10 champion Hawks. At that point, GW was down five with about 10 minutes to play.

Jones converted on a nifty layup while getting fouled, sending the GW bench to their feet and closing the gap when she sunk the free throw. The Second Team All-Conference player proved that she was more than deserving of the award, dropping a career-high 30 points and collecting 16 rebounds for her 11th double-double of the season.

The pace started to pick up and soon, GW took the lead off a Jackson drive that sent the spunky 5-foot-2 guard to her bottom. She too converted the three-point play with a made free throw.

“When we got those ‘and-ones’ we just knew everything was ok,” Jackson said. “JJ got hers and I got mine and it just really kind of changed the aspect of the game for us knowing that once we went to the rim, we’d probably get those foul calls.”

The biggest swing of momentum came in overtime. GW came out at its normal fast pace, opening up Jones down low to score the team’s first six points.

Then, Nipe hit the last of her four three-pointers to make it a five-point game with under two and a half to play.

“In overtime they were so concerned with inside that I got some good outside shots, just because they [Jones and Washington] were so active and monstrous down there,” Nipe said.

But the game wasn’t over yet. Saint Joe’s junior Natasha Cloud and senior Erin Shields kept the game alive, continuing to drive to the basket for a quick two points. All five Hawks starters would finish in double figures, led by sophomore Sarah Fairbanks with 19 points.

Shields had an opportunity to end the game in regulation and send it into double overtime. With 2.6 seconds left in the fourth, after a miscommunication by GW as it tried to hold for the last possession led to a turnover, Shields took a near-half-court shot that ricocheted off back iron. Earlier in the season, she hit a half-court buzzer beater at halftime against the Colonials.

In the final seconds of overtime, she had two contested, but closer, looks to tie the game, but couldn’t get either to go.

Freshman Caira Washington, who played the last 10 minutes of the game with four fouls, scored just five points and pulled down nine boards as Jones excelled inside.

Junior Chakecia Miller, a member of the A-10 All-Defensive team, came out of the game after diving for a loose ball at half court and ending up on the bottom of a dog pile. She would not return, with what appeared to be a lower-back injury, but after the game, Tsipis said he didn’t know the extent of the injury.

The Colonials will have to rebound quickly as they take on the Dayton Flyers tomorrow at 11 a.m. in a semifinal grudge match. GW beat the Flyers in their final regular season game, 88-79.

“All year, as underclassmen, we’ve come out and played for these guys [seniors],” Jones said. “So coming out there of course we’re going to have nerves because we want to play for these guys and get them something.”