Women’s basketball (18-18) fell in the Great 8 of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament to the Illinois State University Redbirds (23-13), 61-53 on Monday night, ending the Revolutionaries’ season.
Despite holding a one-point lead at halftime, the Revs were unable to keep the Redbirds at bay in the third quarter, with the squad ultimately outscoring GW 18-12 in the third quarter on the back of a 12-0 run. Leading away offensively for the Revs was junior forward Kamari Sims, who recorded 17 points on 5-9 from the field and 4-5 from the free throw line.
Junior forward Sara Lewis had 13 points and a team-high seven rebounds, though it was a tough shooting day for sophomore guard Gabby Reynolds, who had 12 points on 5-19 shooting.
As a team, the Revs were only 5-15 from three, compared to the Redbirds’ 7-14. ISU won the rebound battle 38-32 and dominated the points in the paint stat, scoring 32 of their 61 from around the rim versus GW’s 18.
The two teams were deadlocked in the middle of the first quarter, tied at six with four minutes to go. After ISU went up 8-6, freshman forward Madison Austin — who led the Redbirds with 15 points — separated her squad with a three-pointer with 2:40 to go. Still, the Revs responded with a late 6-0 run to take a 12-11 lead after 10 minutes.
Fourteen seconds into the second frame, Reynolds put the Revs up 14-11 and after the Redbirds got it back to within one, freshman guard Mia James got a layup to go to increase the lead to 16-13 with 6:40 remaining.
With 3:34 to play in the first half, Reynolds got the lead to 21-15, the largest lead of the half for the Revs. However, ISU responded, tying the game at 25 on a layup from sophomore guard Trista Fayta. Now down one with time ticking away, Sims tipped in a second-chance layup to give the Revs a 27-26 lead at the break.
Under a minute into the second half, James’ bid from deep found nylon to bump the lead to four. But like earlier in the contest, the Revs could not fully separate themselves from the Redbirds, who would end up tying the game at 32 just before the halfway mark of the third quarter.
Lewis would notch four points in rapid succession to give the Revs a 36-32 lead with 2:59 to go, but after the Revs hit 36 points, they would surrender a 12-0 Redbird run that would end their NIT dreams.
Martin gave the Redbirds their first lead of the second quarter with 1:48 remaining and ISU would only add to it. Senior guard Bella Finnegan hit a transition three just seconds later after a miss from Sims and the Redbirds take a 44-36 lead with 18 seconds left. Sims broke the scoring run with a three with five seconds to go, but a five-point deficit would prove to be insurmountable.
A quick 6-0 run for the Redbirds to start the fourth put their lead at 50-39 after a layup from Martin. But a Lewis layup and a Sims three got the Revs back within six with six minutes remaining. After Martin got another one to go, Lewis’ bid was good from downtown to cut the deficit to five with 4:39 to go.
However, five points were the closest the Revs came to tying the game. The teams traded points down the stretch, but the Redbirds were able to get their lead to 10 with 2:40 to go on a layup from sophomore forward Doneelah Washington.
This concludes Head Coach Ganiyat Adeduntan’s first season as the Revs’ bench boss. Despite finishing with a .500 record, her squad rattled off an impressive run in the NIT, winning three contests, including one against Atlantic 10 foe Loyola Chicago.
