Women’s basketball (11-17, 4-13 Atlantic 10) suffered a 61-55 loss to Massachusetts (16-13, 11-7 A-10) Wednesday, losing the last home game of the season.
Despite a strong 17-point first quarter by the Revolutionaries, GW only managed to put up 9 points in the second quarter, and their inability to build off the strong start resulted in a 22-point fourth quarter by the Minutewomen to put the game away. Wednesday’s match marked the Revs’ first game without former Head Coach Caroline McCombs at the helm, after she resigned from her position Monday following four seasons with the team.
Graduate student forward Paige Mott led the Revs, who recorded 11 points in only 20 minutes of play. Sophomore guard Kamari Sims also contributed double-digit points, with 10 points and five rebounds.
The first quarter saw both GW and UMass trade baskets, leading to a 12-10 GW lead with nearly two minutes left on the clock. A jumper by freshman guard Gabby Reynolds and a 3-pointer by graduate student guard Makayla Andrews jump-started a 6-1 run, leading to a panicked UMass rally to score a layup as the clock ran out.
Mott, who recorded 8 points in the first quarter on 4-5 shooting, only marked six minutes played by halftime.
“If it was our choice, she would have been out there for every second of the game,” interim Head Coach Doug Novak said regarding Mott’s playtime. “The officials and the fouls dictate whether or not how many minutes she could get.”
The Minutewomen stormed back at the start of the second quarter, bolstering their defense with three forced turnovers on the Revs, including a shot clock violation. This kick-started a 8-0 run by UMass to start the quarter, where GW shot only 28 percent from the field and the defense continued to shine for the Minutewomen as the clock winded down to halftime.
Novak said postgame that the immediate change in momentum was due to unlucky possessions.
“I would take those shots every single time, it just didn’t happen to go in,” Novak said.
Interim Head Coach Doug Novak cheers from the sidelines during tonight’s game against UMass. (Rachel Kurlandsky | Staff Photographer) The Revs managed to storm back following halftime, forcing the Minutewomen to score only 8 points in the third quarter but were ultimately outplayed in the final quarter.
The Minutewomen fended off a late-game effort by GW to hold the lead in the closing minutes. After a couple of intentional fouls, the Revs had a last-shot opportunity to tie the game as time ran out. UMass managed to steal the inbounds pass to seal GW’s fate and hand them their fourth consecutive loss in conference play.
Sophomore forward Sara Lewis said the team is excited and prepared to play in the A-10. Last season, the team fell 75-68 to Saint Louis in the tournament in their lone game.
“That’s my favorite part of being on a team, just doing it together, figuring it out and enjoying the time that we have. So definitely finishing strong, yeah,” Lewis said.
The Revs will travel to play their final conference game of the season on Saturday against Rhode Island (16-14, 11-6 A-10), with tipoff set for 1 p.m.
