Women’s basketball (6-6, 1-0 Atlantic 10) defeated the Northwestern Wildcats (8-5, 6-1 Big Ten) 75-62 Sunday evening at the Smith Center.
The Revolutionaries secured their sixth consecutive win and welcomed back GW Athletics Hall of Famer Joe McKeown, the Wildcats’ head coach, who previously led the Revolutionaries from 1990 to 2008. The Revs jumped out to an early lead and never looked back, with sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds leading all scorers with 21 points — her second-highest output of the season.
Graduate guard/forward Emma Theodorsson and freshman guard Colleen Phiri also contributed significantly, each scoring in double figures.
The Wildcats opened the game with a 13-foot jumper, gaining their only lead over GW for the entirety of the bout. Less than 30 seconds later, the Revs responded with an 8-0 run that included a pair of three-pointers from sophomore guard Jaeda Wilson and two points from the free-throw line from sophomore guard Tanah Becker.
Northwestern struggled offensively, hitting only 16.7% (2-12) of their field goals and 0-2 from beyond the arc. Junior forward Crystal Fuqu Wang was able to stop the Revs offensive run with two free-throws followed by another pair a minute later from freshman guard Angelina Hodgens.
Senior guard/forward Emma Theodorsson added two points for the Revs and junior forward Kamari Sims scored a three-point jumper extending the team’s lead to 13-6. With less than two minutes left in the first quarter, sophomore guard/forward Kat Righeimer scored one of the two field goals for the Wildcats, accompanied by a free-throw from Hodgens and sophomore forward Tayla Thomas.
Freshman forward Caia Loving then sealed the first quarter with a free-throw at 0:46 and a layup at 0:35, assisted by freshman guard Colleen Phiri, ending the quarter with a 16-10 lead for the Revs.
Senior guard Filipa Calisto opened the second quarter of the game, adding two points for the Revs but the Wildcats quickly responded with an 8-0 run that tied the game 18-18. At the 6:07 mark Becker hit a 2-point layup to stop the bleeding giving GW a two-point lead over Northwestern.
Both teams improved shooting accuracy in the second quarter, with the Revs hitting 42.9%, or 6 out of 14 attempts, of their field goals and Northwestern 36.8%, or 7 out of 19.
Theodorsson added three points from beyond the arc at the 4:53 mark and with a free-throw from Calisto and a jumper from sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds, GW began to push away again from the Wildcats to establish an eight point lead.
The remainder of the half saw Wildcats graduate guard Tate Lash and Hodgens find success from the paint but with 2-points from James and 4 from Theodorsson, who by halftime was leading the Revs with 9-points, GW was able to maintain an 8-point lead ending the quarter 32-24.
Both teams scored 20-points in the third quarter, marking Northwestern’s highest scoring period. The Revs hit 46.7%, or 7 of 15 of their field attempted goals and Northwestern hit 43.8%, or 7 out of 16 attemps. Leading the Wildcats with nine points in the first half, Thomas opened the third quarter’s scoreboard with two points at 9:22.
The Revs had a 60% success from beyond the arc with Reynolds — who had remained quiet throughout the first half — scoring the team’s fifth three-pointer of the game at 8:39. Lau then went on a 5-0 run, cutting the Wildcats deficit to 35-31 and scoring the team’s first three-pointer of the game but was shortly interrupted by Theodorsson’s splash from beyond the arc.
Lau continued to dominate for Northwestern, adding two more points for the Wildcats at 5:23, to which Phiri responded with a pair of baskets run. Wang then added one more point for the Wildcats from the free-throw line but Phiri wasn’t done and quickly added three more points for the Revolutionaries with a layup and a free-throw.
The next two minutes saw both Phiri and Lau add points for their teams from beyond the arc and Thomas adding four points for the Wildcats — two from the paint and two from the free throw line. Theodorsson also scored a pair of free throws.
With five seconds left in the quarter, Reynolds made a layup to which Lau responded with a three-pointer at the buzzer, ending the third quarter with the Revs leading 52-44.
Reynolds opened the last quarter of the game — the Revs’ highest scoring period with a 6-0 run — giving GW a 12-point lead over the Wildcats. Thomas made a layup cutting the deficit by two. Still, Theodorsson responded with a 14-foot pull-up jumpshot followed by a free throw from Reynolds and another pair from Loving, establishing a 63-49 score for GW.
At 5:45, sophomore guard Claire Keswick scored a three-pointer, followed by another from Reynolds. The next minute of the game saw an 8-0 run for Northwestern with back-to-back three pointers — one from Hodgens and one from Righeimer — and a layup from Lau.
Keswick continued to contribute to the game with a three-pointer at 2:09 and Hodgens added two more points with a layup at 1:10, but GW maintained their lead from the charity stripe with Reynolds adding four points and Sims two, ending the game with a 75-62 win for the Revs.
The Revs will face off against Coppin State in their next game on Sunday at 2 p.m for their final out-of-conference game before starting A-10 play on Dec. 31 at St. Bonaventure.
