Women’s basketball lost their seventh straight game Wednesday night against Saint Bonaventure on the road.
Despite holding a lead through almost the entire fourth quarter, the Colonials (7-13, 0-7 A-10) fell to the Bonnies (10-10, 3-6 A-10) 50-49 in the final seconds.
After playing stout defense for much of the Bonnies’ final possession, a foul by junior guard Essence Brown gave senior guard Asianae Johnson a chance to take the lead with four seconds on the clock. Johnson buried both free throws and redshirt junior forward Mayowa Taiwo’s last ditch attempt failed to go in, giving Saint Bonaventure the victory at home.
The Colonials’ last victory came against a Division II team, West Chester, in a 64-31 rout Dec. 28. GW had been outscored by 102 points through the last five games heading into the matchup with the Bonnies.
The contest was originally scheduled for Jan. 15 but was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Serving as the lone bright spot of the night, walk-on freshman guard Maxine Engel put on a career-best showing, leading the team with 19 points on 8-of-10 from the field and 2-of-2 from beyond the arc.
But the leading scorer heading into the game, junior guard Nya Lok, was held scoreless throughout the entirety of the match. Prior to the loss, Lok had averaged 8.7 points per game.
On the other side of the court, Johnson led the Bonnies with 20 points on 9-of-18 shooting, followed closely behind by redshirt senior guard Tori Harris with 15 points on 5-of-13 shooting.
The Bonnies tacked on the first basket of the game at the 8:07 mark courtesy of Johnson before she added another one under a minute later. But the Colonials then went on a 10-0 run lasting from 6:38 to 3:06 to seize control of the game, starting with a jumper by junior guard Sheslanie Laureano.
Saint Bonaventure tied the game up with 1:15 left in the quarter off of a pair of free throws by Harris following a foul by Brown. But sophomore guard Aurea Gingras earned a foul of her own and knocked down both from the line to give the Colonials the lead again at 14-12.
GW finished the first quarter 5-of-10 from the field compared to the Bonnies’ 5-of-18 from the field. But the Colonials conceded eight points in the paint and would concede far more by the game’s end.
The second quarter opened similarly to the first as both teams struggled to put the ball into the basket. Graduate student guard Kyara Frames netted the first point from the line before Engel scored the first basket of the quarter with 6:14 left after snagging two offensive rebounds in a row.
Saint Bonaventure crept their way back, tying the game at 19-19 at the 4:40 mark and again at 21-21 with three minutes remaining in the half. Johnson gave the Bonnies a 23-21 lead heading into the locker room after making a nice move inside to cut in, finishing with a layup before falling to ground.
Both teams had trouble generating offense throughout the quarter, and the Colonials finished 3-of-10 from the floor and 0-of-3 from beyond the arc. But again, the Bonnies outscored GW in the paint by a margin of 14 to 4.
Frames finally tied the game up once more nearly three minutes into the second half on a jumper, ending a nearly six-minute long scoring drought for the Colonials. Frames then gave GW the lead with a layup on the fastbreak, prompting a timeout by the Saint Bonaventure bench.
The Bonnies drew the scores level again before Engel buried a three. But Harris knocked down a trey of her own to tie it again before sinking another deep ball to take the lead with 2:39 left.
Engel continued to light up the court, converting another three-point bucket to knot the game up at 35-35. Brown eventually handed the Colonials a 39-38 edge leading into the final quarter on a driving layup.
Frames scored the first basket of the fourth quarter on a mid-range jumper, and Engel padded the lead with a layup through contact but missed the “and one” opportunity. Graduate student guard Sierra Bell granted GW its largest lead of the game of 45-38 with 5:50 left to play.
Johnson found her groove in the final quarter, scoring three buckets inside the last six minutes to bring the Bonnies within one point at 49-48 with 47 seconds left. Following a turnover by Brown, Engel nearly stole the ball back, but the ball trickled out of bounds, allowing Saint Bonaventure to have the ball with 27.3 seconds on the clock and a fresh 25 seconds on the shot clock.
Johnson struggled to find an opening as the shot clock wound down and drove in to take a shot but was fouled with four seconds left and scored both free throws from the line to make it 49-48. Head Coach Caroline McCombs took a timeout to advance the ball and draw up a play, but Taiwo’s attempt missed the basket.
The Colonials will continue their four-game road swing at VCU at 1 p.m. Sunday as they still seek their first conference win.
