This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Rob Bartnichak.
Sophomore Hannah Schaible’s first double-double of the season helped women’s basketball to some local bragging rights on Tuesday, as the Colonials defeated Georgetown 72-60 at the Smith Center for their fifth consecutive win.
Schaible’s 17 points, a career high, and 10 rebounds came in a game that head coach Jonathan Tsipis said was extra easy for GW (7-2) to play.
“In rivalry games, you know you’re always going to get the team’s best efforts.” Tsipis said. “Since I got here, I’ve wanted to play everyone in the area for the pride sort of thing.”
Junior Jonquel Jones scored 15 points, which all came in the second half, to help GW keep a lead the team took for good with 43 seconds left in the first half.
Georgetown was able to get within five points with 13 minutes left to play, but Jones recorded five consecutive baskets to restore a double-digit lead.
“Coach challenged me after the first half to be aggressive,” Jones said. “Watching my teammates play with intensity [made me] want to be out there and play like that to help them.”
While GW and Georgetown shot similar percentages from the field – the Colonials netting 38.2 percent to the Hoyas’ 39.4 – GW continued to dominate the glass and out-rebounded Georgetown 54-38, creating a 24-10 advantage in second-chance points.
“We take a lot of pride in our rebounding,” Jones said. “We like that is one of our strong points, having big players inside and aggressive players coming in.”
Crashing the boards helped the Colonials keep the edge without winning the turnover margin. GW forced a total of 19 turnovers and scored 16 points off them, but also turned the ball over 19 times.
Sophomore Shannon Cranshaw started in place of Lauren Chase, who was out Tuesday. Cranshaw scored 12 points with a game-high four three-pointers.
“I thought our kids did a job of rallying around,” Tsipis said. “I thought Shannon did a good job finding those outside shots.”
Nine of Cranshaw’s points came in the first half, as did three of her three-pointers, as the Colonials were led by their outside players in the first frame. Schaible scored the first eight points for the Colonials before Jones took over in the second half.
The game brought revenge to the team after a loss up the hill at Georgetown last year, and was the first defeat of the Hoyas for the Colonials since 2004.
After beating a team that GW’s men’s squad has long tried to schedule a game against, women’s basketball will have another chance to grab some payback for men’s basketball when the Colonials return to action against Memphis on Monday in the Smith Center.
