The GW women’s basketball team defeated the University of Latvia 106-52 at the Smith Center Sunday afternoon in its first exhibition game of the season.

The Colonials played an unexceptional Latvia team that fell far behind only 10 minutes into the first half.

Head Coach Joe McKeown said he was not impressed with the victory and said he takes the game with a grain of salt.

But McKeown said he was impressed with junior transfer Elena Vishniakova’s performance. It has been almost two years since the 6-foot 4-inch center played in a collegiate game, but she looked sharp scoring 19 points in 12 minutes.

It was good for her to get the cobwebs off, McKeown said. As much as you practice, there’s no substitute for playing in a game.

Four GW players scored in double-digits, and forward Erica Lawrence led the way with 14 points.

The Colonials made up for occasional offensive lapses with an aggressive full-court press. GW forced 31 turnovers and collected 62 rebounds.

GW’s defense broke down at times and had trouble guarding the player with the ball.

Freshman Ugo Oha played only 13 minutes, but had two blocks and forced Latvia to shoot from beyond the three-point line.

Early in the second half Oha tumbled to the floor after colliding with two Latvia players. Oha seemed to land on her neck, and she clutched her neck for at least a minute lying on the floor. McKeown said that although it was a scary situation, Oha is not seriously injured. He said Oha will play Friday.

McKeown played all of the team’s freshmen, who combined for 27 points.