Women’s basketball (9-13, 2-9 Atlantic 10) snapped an eight-game losing streak with a 69-59 over Fordham (12-10, 6-5) on Tuesday night.
The Revolutionaries led by as many as 20 in the fourth quarter but were able to weather a 17-4 run from the Rams to secure the victory. The victory breaks a roughly month-long dry spell for the Revs, who recorded their last win in late December with a 65-54 win over La Salle.
Freshman guard Gabby Reynolds led the way offensively for the Revs, recording 18 points, eight rebounds and one assist while going six of 11 from the field. Graduate student guard Makayla Andrews recorded 10 points on 50% shooting and the sophomore duo of forward Sara Lewis and guard Kamari Sims each recorded nine points.
Reynolds said postgame that her stat line is partly due to the guidance she receives at practices, with coaches advising her to have an aggressive mindset with the ball in her hands.
“Every time I have the ball in my hands, I’m gonna attack, looking to score,” Reynolds said. “If it’s not there, I’m gonna kick it out. And so that’s what we did tonight.”
The Revs came out of the gates hot, with Andrews and Reynolds propelling the team to a 17-8 lead after the first. In the second quarter, the Rams started to find their stride, cutting the Revs’ lead to 17-14 on a three from Fordham graduate student forward Irene Murua. The teams traded points in the final minutes of the second quarter, with the Revs taking a 27-24 lead into the half.
The Revs continued to build on their lead in the third quarter. A pair of timely threes from Sims increased the lead to 46-33 with 1:34 to play in the quarter. After the Rams cut the gap back down to ten, Reynolds was money from downtown to give the Revs a 49-36 lead after three.
A three-point play at the 8:13 mark of the fourth quarter from Reynolds put the Revs up 56-35, their largest lead of the game. But the Rams fought back, gradually cutting into the Revs’ lead. Fordham scored 14 unanswered points spanning just under four minutes, with Murua drilling a three to make it a 56-50 game with 4:40 left.
Another triple from Murua cut the Revs’ lead to five, the lowest the Rams mustered through the match. Some misses down the stretch from the Rams combined with strong defensive rebounding and timely free throw shooting from Sims, Lewis and Reynolds put the game out of reach and into the win column.
Head Coach Caroline McCombs said postgame that these wins are crucial for them to string together wins as the season’s final stretch approaches.
“We need to keep putting together those types of team victories with a balanced attack,” McCombs said. “This is the end of the big losing streak, and it wasn’t easy.”
With the win, the Revs move to 9-13 on the season and 2-9 in A-10 play. This places them in a tie for 13th with La Salle in the conference. GW travels to St. Bonaventure to take on the Bonnies on Saturday, with tipoff set for 1 p.m. at the Reilly Center.
