Women’s basketball (10-17, 3-12 A-10) fell to Duquesne (18-9, 13-3 A-10) 69-79 Wednesday in Pittsburgh, Pa., falling behind late in what was a mostly close game.
The Revs and Dukes were deadlocked in a fast-paced game throughout. However, in the final quarter, GW could not continue the momentum, shooting just 5-19, and Duquesne was able to finally pull away.
Sophomore guard Nya Robertson, who leads the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game, dominated with 29 points. She shot 10-21 from the field and 6-11 from beyond the arc in her 40 minutes on the court.
Graduate student forward Mayowa Taiwo also had a notable performance. In her start against the Dukes, she set the program record for career games played with 131. She also overtook Tajama Abraham in GW’s all-time rebounding charts. She now sits at third after passing Abraham. who collected 970 caroms in her career, with 15 rebounds against Duquesne.
To kick off the first quarter, the Revs ran out to an early lead, pulling ahead 26-22 by the end of the quarter.
The squad opened the second quarter with a 6-point lead, with Robertson shooting 5-7 from the field with 15 points. GW was able to maintain their lead throughout the beginning of the quarter, and the score remained fairly steady as the teams went tit for tat. Senior guard Madison Buford came out strong with 9 points in the second quarter, contributing to GW’s 12 bench points.
GW lost their lead in the final minute and thirty seconds of the half, as graduate student guard Nya Lok, Robertson and Buford all missed threes, and Duquesne guard Megan McConnell sank a 3-pointer, putting the score at 39-40 at half.
After half, Duquesne pulled ahead steadily, widening the margin to 7 points at its peak. To overcome this, Robertson led the charge as she carried the Revs’ scoring throughout the quarter and game, scoring 8 of the Revs’ 17 points for the quarter. At the end of the third, GW trailed 56-57.
Five free throws from Duquesne’s senior forward Precious Johnson and a series of missed shots and turnovers put the Revs further behind, 61-67.
Robertson hit a three with just under four minutes remaining, putting GW within 3 points once again, but a huge block by Duquesne’s senior guard Amaya Hamilton stopped Robertson from scoring two posessions later, and kept GW down 64-71. The Dukes would ultimately extend their lead to 10, 69-79, in what would prove to be the final score.
With the loss, the Revs sit at thirteenth in the A-10.
GW will look to correct the course against last-place UMass (6-13, 1-15 A-10) at noon on Saturday, Feb. 24, in the Smith Center.
