Women’s basketball defeated Manhattan on the road, 55-49, Friday, thanks in part to a comeback in the third quarter.
The Revolutionaries trailed throughout the first half of the game, trailing by as many as 12 points, midway through the second quarter. They turned the game around in the second half as a result of better shot selection, shooting 52 percent from the field, and defensive stops that held the Jaspers to a 28.6 percent shooting percentage.
Sophomore guard Nya Robertson struck first for the Revs, knocking down a 3-pointer in the second minute of the game off an assist from graduate student guard Essence Brown. The Revs’ offense sputtered early and the Jaspers took advantage, jumping out to a quick 7-3 lead three minutes into the game.
They continued to trail throughout the first period, but with one minute remaining in the quarter, Brown used her length and strength to get over the defender for a layup to make the score 7-13. With 26.2 seconds left, graduate student forward Mayowa Taiwo was fouled and split a pair of free throws, notching her first point of the season. The first quarter ended with the Revs down 19-10 as they struggled to get points on the board.
Throughout the second quarter, the Revs held the Jaspers in check defensively, forcing an airball on a 3-point attempt of their first possession. Madison Buford banked in a layup off the glass in the second minute, the Revs’ first basket of the quarter after two consecutive turnovers.
With 6:38 remaining in the quarter, Head Coach Caroline McCombs called a timeout with the Revs down 24-12, the largest deficit of the game. Coming off of the timeout, the Revs went on an 8-0 run that shifted the momentum as freshman guard Monica Marsh knocked in a shot down low and graduate student guard Nya Lok scored a fast-break layup.
The Revs relied on stronger defense to close the gap, forcing a Manhattan 10-second violation with their aggressive full-court press with 48 seconds left in the half. The second quarter ended with GW down just 6 points, 20-26, as they held the Jaspers to just 7 points in the period.
In the third quarter, graduate student forward Maren Durant scored off an assist from Robertson in GW’s first possession as the Revs looked close the deficit. Robertson collected another assist, this time to Buford, in the second minute.
Robertson got a bucket of her own, sinking a layup with the help of a Durant screen with 4:28 remaining in the quarter. Buford scored another bucket as the Revs trailed by a point and made another layup as she helped the Revs take their first lead of the game with 2:59 remaining in the quarter with a score of 32-31.
With three minutes to go in the third, graduate student forward Faith Blethen hit her first 3-pointer of the game, which extended the GW lead to 4, causing the Jaspers to call a timeout. Right out of the timeout, the Revs’ defense forced a Jasper turnover, giving the ball back to the Revs.
With just under two minutes remaining, a Buford 3-pointer extended the GW lead to 38-31, their largest lead of the game. The Revs held Manhattan to just 7 third-quarter points and only two field goals.
In the midst of a large back-and-forth fourth quarter, Blethen hit a clutch 3-pointer that gave the Revs a 7-point lead, 49-42, with two minutes left in the game. With 28.1 seconds to go in the game, Taiwo drew a foul down low and sunk both free throws, pushing the lead to 51-45.
Buford was fouled shortly after and also made a pair of free throws at 19.4 seconds. The Revs got the rebound of the Jaspers’ final missed shot and held onto the ball until the buzzer sounded, cementing their 55-49 victory.
The Revolutionaries will head back to the Smith Center on Wednesday, where they will face American University at 6 p.m.
