Women’s basketball (18-17) defeated Loyola Chicago (16-18) 71-62 at the Smith Center on Friday, advancing to the Great 8 of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament for the first time in program history.
The Revolutionaries pulled away early in the fourth quarter and held on down the stretch after a tightly contested first 30 minutes. In the tournament’s first two rounds, the Revs mounted comebacks, defeating Bradley at home in the first round and erasing an 8-point deficit at University of Southern Indiana in the next.
Junior forward Sara Lewis led all scorers with 25 points, matching her career high. She also pulled down 13 boards and had eight assists, falling just short of a triple double.
The win follows the Revs’ 53-48 loss to the Ramblers on Jan. 17 at home during Atlantic-10 play. Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan said she was “smiling internally” as she watched her team’s improvement against Loyola’s zone defense.
“We need to be locked in and hunt what we want offensively, and we spent a lot of time working on trying to capitalize against their zone,” Adeduntan said postgame.
While the Revs shot a dismal 36 percent from the field in their first matchup against the Ramblers, including making just two of 18 attempts from 3-point territory, the team improved to 47 percent on Friday, making seven 3-pointers on 12 attempts.
The Revs opened the game in a back-and-forth battle with Loyola, capitalizing on turnovers and taking a small 8-5 lead after junior forward Sara Lewis broke a tie with an and-one. The Ramblers retaliated with back-to-back layups, but the Revs halted their momentum with a three from sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds at 4:05 that set the Revs on a 9-0 run, ending the quarter 17-12.
Reynolds finished with another impressive scoring total, dropping 20 points on seven for 14 shootings, including making five of six 3-point attempts. The sophomore has emerged as a young star on the team in her second year of collegiate basketball, finishing top ten in the conference and first on the team for most points for game, clocking in an average of 14.5 points per game while eclipsing 20 points in each WNIT game.
Fatigue took its toll on the Revs throughout the second quarter as they let through 9 fast-break points, allowing the Ramblers to start a 5-0 run at 6:47 and take the lead at 23-21 by 5:36. A layup from junior forward Kamari Sims at the buzzer sent the Revs to the locker room tied at 25.
Adeduntan said the team’s turnovers caused the fatigue and prompted her to remind them in the locker room during halftime that there aren’t many teams left playing in the postseason.
“I challenged them to not succumb to fatigue, and that’s what we were doing,” Adeduntan said.
The Revs and Ramblers came out of the half swinging, each going on 5-0 runs before trading layups, with the Revs managing to stay just ahead. With five minutes left on the clock, sophomore guard Jaeda Wilson sank a three to take the lead at 39-36, and a fast moving defense foiled two consecutive Loyola fast breaks and kept the Revs ahead 48-42 going into the last quarter.
Reynolds opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer that kicked off an 11-2 run for the Revs, bringing the score up to 59-44 by 7:39. Loyola Chicago’s 3-point prowess — a nine of 16 clip on the night — helped keep them in the game with under three minutes left as they knocked down two back-to-back deep shots to cut their deficit to just 4 points under two minutes left. However, they fell cold after this run, and GW remained consistent on shot making to close the game, with a late layup bringing the score to 70-62 with just 42 seconds left on the clock to cement the Revs’ win.
In the last minute, the Revs applied heavy defensive pressure, forcing three misses up close and two more beyond the arc. Reynolds made a free throw to finish the Ramblers and send the Revs to the WNIT Great 8 for the first time in program history.
The Revs’ postseason success is their first tournament play since they made the NCAA Tournament in 2018, losing as a 14 seed to Ohio State University. Adeduntan coached in the WNIT in both 2024 and 2025 as head coach of Colgate University’s program, reaching the Super 16 in 2024 while Coppin State University knocked out her team in the first round last year.
Next, the Revs will hit the road to face Illinois State University (22-13) on Monday at 7:30 p.m. The winner of that matchup will face the University of South Dakota (26-9) in the Fab 4.
