RICHMOND, VA – The 11th-seeded George Washington bested its Revolutionary Rival, 14th seeded George Mason, 62-56 in an Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship first-round battle Wednesday at VCU's Siegel Center.
A close battle, the game featured nine ties and eight lead changes.
“For us our defense was not the best in this game, but we made it an emphasis to keep trying to improve throughout the game so we could get stops even if we weren’t scoring,” GW’s Mayowa Taiwo said. “I think that’s what really helped us pull this game out.”
GW was led by Taiwo’s 17 points which were one off a career high, but represented a season best. Taiwo also added nine rebounds.
Gabby Nikitinaite added 16 points including four made 3-point shots, while Ali Brigham contributed 13 points on six-of-eight shooting, despite playing a good portion of the second half in foul trouble.
“I want to give a lot of credit to George Mason,” George Washington coach Jennifer Rizzotti said. “I thought they came out really not wanting their season to end today, their game plan was good. They made some shots early and made us uncomfortable. I am pleased with the poise our team played with late in the game. We haven’t won a lot of close games this year, so we needed to feel that kind of success at the end of a basketball game and figure out how to win. This was a really good opportunity for us to work on some of those end-of-game opportunities to get better.”
As a team, GW forced George Mason into 15 turnovers, 10 of those coming off steals.
All eight George Mason players who saw the floor all scored and grabbed a rebound led by Taylor Jameson’s 10 points. Rachel Balzer, Marika Korpinen and Devyn Wilson each earned nine points.
“We definitely battled today, we competed and made shots which helps the game a lot,” George Mason coach Nyla Milleson said. “We did a good job sticking to the game plan we had to control rebounding and not to turn the ball over. At the end of the day, I think it was the turnovers that got us. The thing I asked them to do today was to empty their tank and I felt like they did that and gave everything they had. It’s been a really long year but I’m really proud of what they did today.”
Both teams found offensive success in the opening quarter, draining six 3-point shots apiece.
Aided by an 8-2 run, George Mason led by five points in the first quarter, before George Washington converted the last five points in the period to tie this contest.
George Mason led by as many as four points in the second quarter, but GW had another answer, this time an 11-2 run as the Patriots did not convert a field goal in the final 4:48 of the first half allowing the Colonials to lead by five points.
In the third quarter, George Mason continued providing different looks with its zone defense which made things difficult for George Washington to get Brigham the ball inside.
Instead, Brigham picked up her third foul and Rizzotti took her out so she could be more aggressive in the fourth quarter.
“Not having her out there and not having Neila in a flow really affected our offense,” said Rizzotti. “I thought if we could last through the quarter and play the rotation I wanted, we would be okay. It definitely got a little scary there, but you have to trust your players.”
GW, up seven points at the time, had to play the last seven minutes without Brigham, and though George Mason was able to tie the game, the Colonials remained in front after three quarters after Nikitinaite made a 3-point shot.
Both teams traded the lead in the fourth quarter, but after two Taiwo free throws nearly halfway into the stanza, GW took the lead back for good.
With this win, George Washington has now won five of its last six contests dating back to Feb. 12.
“As a coach I’ve been doing this a long time and I think we’ve struggled the last few years to have an identity,” said Rizzotti. “We didn’t really know who we were. Every year we’ve basically replaced our starting lineup and had to start over. This year I think we found an identity in the second half of the season. We started that with our defense and although it wasn’t great in the first quarter, it’s what won us the game. We bought into playing for each other and the fact that it could be a different player every night. I’ve been really proud of everyone taking their role seriously. It’s been nice as a coach to see them come together. It would have been easy to turn at the end of January and I think our team has been very resilient and positive. Today was an example of what that can do in a close game.”
GW will face sixth-seeded Richmond in the fourth and final Atlantic 10 second-round contest, carried at 8 p.m. by ESPN+.
“We used those last four games of the regular season as a second season for us, Rizzotti said. “We talked about this tournament being a third season. What happens now is really what matters. I have a lot of young kids and I need them to know what it means to advance in the tournament, be hungry to continue to advance and understand what that’s going to take.”