Turnovers are a killer.
The Colonials struggled shooting in the first half but were able to come back and take the lead. They had a few chances in the end, but three consecutive balls thrown away led to the ultimate demise for the now 5-3 GW team.
“Down the stretch we had 5 turnovers in the fourth quarter and 22 for the game, it’s hard to execute something and even have a chance for an offensive rebound on a missed shot when you don’t even get up a shot,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said.
And with GW struggling to hold onto the ball, the Florida Gulf Coast Eagles were able to get the upper hand Thursday night, 64-60, with senior guard Kaneisha Atwater leading the way with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Senior forward Jonquel Jones’ individual play was the biggest positive standout for the Colonials. She led the team with 21 points, 21 rebounds, 4 blocks, and 3 steals. She netted her 1000th point as a Colonial while moving herself up to No. 10 on GW’s all-time rebounding list. Although her team has now lost one less game than they did all last year, Jones has been dominating on both sides of the floor.
The first quarter was a story of mistakes for the Colonials who, after allowing 3 wide-open drives to the basket, couldn’t get anything going offensively. Jones, who leads the team with 17.1 points per game, missed her first seven shots including an open layup. As a team, the Colonials shot a dismal 16.7 percent from the floor.
Fortunately for GW, the team’s defense picked it up and allowed only 9 points to the Eagles in the first quarter. After a three-point shot by junior guard Hannah Schaible and a three-point play by Jones the Colonials were able to finish the first set leading 13-9.
In the second quarter GW did not shoot much better. Their 20.7 percent from the field, which included 11.1 percent from behind the arc, along with 12 turnovers held the Colonial offense back from making any kind of run throughout the half.
After playing behind for seven minutes, three-pointers by redshirt sophomore forward Haley Laughter, senior guard Stephanie Haas, and Atwater boosted the Eagles to a 23-18 lead that they were able to maintain for the rest of the half.
Despite GW’s size advantage (FGCU sent out no players 6 feet or taller), the Colonials could not get anything going inside offensively, only scoring 10 first-half points in the paint.
One of the lone bright spots in the first half for the Colonials was their rebounding. Jones alone was able to collect 12 first-half rebounds compared to only 17 by the entire Florida Gulf coast squad. GW’s prowess on the boards was holding them in the game as they went into the half down 24-30.
The Colonials came out much stronger in the second half, looking like they were on a mission to get the lead. They began the half with a 15-2 run that was sparked by a charge taken by Alexis Chandler and good defense by graduate student guard Lauren Chase. During the run, junior forward Caira Washington and Jones both got two easy looks down low.
“Part of the reason that we shot 53 percent in the second half is because we didn’t shoot as many threes,” Tsipis said. “Lauren Chase got us out in transition in the third quarter, got us better looks, got to the rim a couple times, and found Caira a couple times.”
In the second half the Colonials attacked the basket the entire time. They were passing up open threes for inside shots for Jones or Washington and Chase was cutting to the basket with force.
If their goal was to get to the line today, they succeeded. GW got to the charity stripe 22 times in the game though they only converted on 13 of those opportunities.
Down by 9, with four minutes to go in the game, the Eagles mounted a comeback. Three-pointers from senior guard DyTiesha Dunson and Atwater were able to tie the game up at 52, but the Colonials kept pulling ahead.
With one minute remaining, FGCU was finally able to pull away with the lead. Sophomore guard Taylor Gradinjan knocked down her fourth three-pointer of the second half to give the Eagles a 61-60 lead.
Coach Tsipis was very disappointed in the late game defensive let up.
“We spend a lot of time on defense and we have a lot of pride, that just why it is frustrating that when we got a lead we didn’t dig in even harder,” he said. “I think we lost the understanding of why we got that lead. We relaxed.”
FGCU was able to get the ball right back after an unforced turnover from the Colonials and after Gradinjan was fouled. She missed both of her free throws, giving the Colonials a chance to take the lead.
With less than 30 seconds left the Colonials drove the lane and saw an opening on the wing. The pass was intended for Alexis Chandler but instead went wide—out of bounds.
Atwater got fouled the next time down the floor and brought the lead to 3, giving the Colonials one more chance to get a shot off. Coach Tsipis subbed in their three-point specialist, junior guard Shannon Cranshaw, looking for a last second prayer.
Instead, Washington and Cranshaw had a miscommunication and the ball was stolen to cap off the night.
“We work on late game situations everyday in practice,” Tsipis said. “It has to transfer over from practice into the games. I feel like we are relying on somebody else to do it as opposed to people saying, I’m going to make the pass or I’m going to set the great screen.”
Sunday the Colonials travel to Memphis, Tenn. to take on the Tigers at 2 p.m.
