This post was written by Hatchet reporter Agam Mittal.
On her 22nd birthday, senior guard Hannah Schaible scored a career-high 20 points to lead women’s basketball to a 76-47 rout of Florida Gulf Coast in the consolation semifinal game of the Gulf Coast Showcase.
Schaible also added seven rebounds and shot an efficient 8-for-12 from the field, converting a number of tough finishes while drawing contact. Junior guard Brianna Cummings put up a season-high 16 points and five rebounds, while senior center Caira Washington pitched in 14 points and five rebounds in only 15 minutes of action.
“I was really happy with the game today – it was not easy to have to turnaround after finishing at almost 10 p.m. to play at 1:30, but our guys were focused and really hungry,” head coach Jennifer Rizzotti said. “They wanted to redeem themselves after losing yesterday so it was great to see how they bounced back and played together and got the win today.”
Rizzotti made an adjustment in the starting lineup for the first time this season, replacing point guard Camila Tapias with sophomore combo guard Mei-Lyn Bautista. Although Bautista was held scoreless on only two shot attempts, she led the team in assists with four dimes.
After the game, Rizzotti acknowledged Bautista’s high intensity on the court, noting her skills as a vocal leader on the court.
“I really like her energy, she’s one of those guys that actually wants to be vocal and lead, and I think that’s what some of our older guys need,” Rizzotti said. “I think she’s improved over the last month and a half and she’s ready for that jump to the starting lineup. She came out and played great defense today on FGCU’s best shooter and she really got the offense flowing.”
The Colonials started strong, forcing five FGCU turnovers in the first quarter and holding the Eagles to 4-for-14 shooting from the field. Cummings was aggressive from the start, looking for her shot and scoring eight early points to give the Colonials a 24-10 lead after the first quarter.
Cummings stayed hot in the second period, adding another six points, including four from the free throw line. GW was sharp from the charity stripe in the first half, hitting 9-of-11 free throws.
“Coming off a loss to Syracuse, I felt that I wasn’t really that aggressive in the game, and I wasn’t playing to my strengths,” Cummings said. “Today I focused on being aggressive, getting to the rim, and drawing some fouls to help the team.”
Graduate student forward Lexi Martins also provided quality minutes off the bench, chipping in with five points, five rebounds, and two steals in the first half, allowing Washington to take a breather and play limited minutes in the first half. GW held a 17 point advantage going into the locker room, leading 46-29.
Schaible carried the Colonials with six early points in the third quarter to help GW open the half on a 10-1 run. After a brief two-minute GW scoring drought that included three turnovers and a 6-0 FGCU run, Bautista sparked the offense once again as the Colonials closed the quarter with a 28 point advantage, 65-37. They allowed the Eagles to score only one basket in the period.
“I’m happy that we played so well as a team and that I was able to get some buckets today,” Schaible said. “We had to focus on working on our defense, because Coach [Rizzotti] wants us to be a great defensive team all season long, so that’s something we want to constantly get better at, limiting the other team as much as possible.”
Nursing a comfortable lead in the fourth quarter, Rizzotti was able to give valuable minutes to her backups, with freshmen Harper Birdsong and Kendall Bresee, and junior Mia Farmer all getting playing time.
“It’s very important to get our backups minutes, because down the line you never know what’s going to happen,” Cummings said. “We need our backups to come in and keep pushing and let the tempo not drop, and they did an amazing job at scoring, rebounding, and just helping us out really and giving us a rest.”
The Colonials will face Western Kentucky tomorrow in the fifth-place game. They will tip off at 1:30 p.m. at Germain Arena.
“Tomorrow we face a really tough Western Kentucky squad that already has beaten Indiana this year and played DePaul tough on Friday, so it doesn’t get any easier for us,” Rizzotti said. “But it’s another great opportunity for us to get better and play against another really high level mid-major program and see where we are at this point in the season, and I think our girls will definitely be ready.”
