Some moments were messy, some were tense, and though head coach Jonathan Tsipis’ patented foot-stomp came out once or twice, the Colonials pulled their record to an even .500 with their first win of the season, topping American on the road 63-52.
An 18-4 first-half run gave the Colonials some breathing room going into halftime, but a resurgent shooting game for American made it tight in the second half before GW could pull away with the win.
“Obviously not picture perfect,” Tsipis said. “There’s a reason that American is fifth in the country in [scoring defense] last year because they’re going to pack length, they’re going to dare you to shoot jumpers, and I think the last 10 minutes we didn’t settle for those.”
For the second game in a row, freshman Kelli Prange led GW in scoring with 16 points while adding nine rebounds. She scored the first four GW points of the second half, including a long jumper, and got to the line, making four free throws on five attempts.
She did so without the help of Jonquel Jones, who sat out the game after missing Friday’s contest due to injury, and with Caira Washington getting into early foul trouble and playing just 13 minutes. Despite Prange’s performance, the Colonial had a tough day in the paint where they were outscored by American 28-22, struggling inside early in particular. GW ended the first half getting outscored 12-4 in the paint.
“I kind of feel like the tempo was offbeat in the first half, and we were driving to the lane where American really clogs it up. That’s their defense,” Prange said. “So in the second half, we really noticed that, so we were finding open people, and it was just finding that open person and making that extra pass.”
After the Eagles, a WNIT team from last year, made it a one-possession game 30-33 with about 14 minutes to go, Washington came back in the game. She scored the next GW points, getting open inside and up to the net to lay in a pass from Schaible.
“When Caira’s been on the floor, she’s been fine, but we’ve got to make sure that we keep her on the floor,” Tsipis said. “I thought we tried to go directly to Caira when we brought her back in, and she had a couple really good plays.”
American responded with two made free throws by All-Patriot League Preseason First Team selection Jen Dumiak, a layup, and a three to go up by five, 44-39, with nine minutes to play. But GW followed up with a 14-2 run spurred by Prange and good free throws.
Brianna Cummings gave the Colonials a 10-point lead with two minutes left to play when her extra shot fell after drawing the foul on a layup that got the whole GW bench on its feet. She ended the game the third leading scorer for the Colonials with 10 points and added a game-high 10 rebounds, four of which came off the offensive glass.
GW was able to contain Dumiak, holding her to just two field goals on eight attempts, but she did lead the Eagles in scoring after making nine free throws in 10 attempts to finish with 13 total points. She played every minute of the game despite struggling with the Colonials’ man-to-man coverage, which pushed her into nine of the Eagles’ 25 turnovers.
“I think we did a good job – even when we didn’t turn them over – of making them play faster than they wanted to at times,” Tsipis said.
The win gives the Colonials some momentum in the middle of a packed stretch of games. They will take on Bowie State on Wednesday before hosting No. 9 Maryland on Saturday.
