VCU punched its ticket to the Atlantic 10 Championship Semifinals with a 55-47 victory over George Washington Friday afternoon at Chase Fieldhouse.

This result secures VCU a Saturday morning date with top-seeded Dayton at 11 a.m. on CBS Sports Network. VCU, which is responsible for Dayton’s lone conference loss, have also bested the Flyers in each of the last three Atlantic 10 Championships.
 
The reigning Atlantic 10 champions were led by All-Conference First Team member Taya Robinson, who scored a game-high 19 points on 8-of-15 shooting. All-Conference Third Team selection Sarah Te-Biasu added 17 points of her own.
 
“We know these first-round games are going to be extremely tough,” VCU coach Beth O’ Boyle said. “You look at how excellent the A-10 was this year, and all of the teams that have been playing and you have to give a lot of credit to what Coach McCombs has done at George Washington. We knew it was going to take 40 minutes to come out with a hard-fought victory. It’s been a challenging year… and it’s exciting that we get to keep going.”
 
George Washington was trying to become the lowest seed to make the semifinals in league history, and led for over 18 minutes in its effort to do so.
 
“I’m just really proud of this group,” George Washington coach Caroline McCombs said. “They embody a lot of the characteristics that we’re trying to build in our program. We’re tough, gritty, we have heart, togetherness, connectedness, we just do a lot of things and I’m proud to be their coach. I love this group and what we’ve done the last couple of days is what we’ve been building towards all season long and we were able to put together a few good games in a row.”
 
Junior guard Sheslanie Laureano finished play with 15 points, while graduate student guard Kyara Frames added 11 points. Redshirt junior forward Mayowa Taiwo finished with eight points and 13 rebounds, totaling at least 10 boards in all three A-10 Championship contests GW competed in.
 
“We didn’t get the outcome we wanted but I think we definitely left our mark, so that’s all I can ask for,” said Frames. “The growth that we’ve had has been incredible. We’re a force to be reckoned with.”
 
After conceding the game’s first basket, a three, to Te-Biasu, GW responded as Taiwo and Frames, did as they were able to in the first round and successfully hunted baskets. Taiwo’s layup and Frames’s 3-point bucket, which came on an assist from the former, briefly placed the Colonials on top.
 
VCU  successfully regrouped with a 6-0 run, while holding GW without a field goal for 4:27 of game action, before Shelanie Laureano made a turnaround jumper. By that point, the Rams held control and took an 11-9 lead into the second quarter.
 
In the second quarter, GW got hot early on from 3-point range, connecting on its first three triples. First Nya Lok fired up a 3-point shot which briefly placed the Colonials back in the lead. VCU’s Janika Griffith-Wallace countered with a three of her own, but Lok doubled up from downtown. When Laureano buried a three-point shot, GW found itself leading by four points, the same margin it would lead by at halftime.
 
It was a defensive affair for most of the third quarter, but a 13-3 run allowed VCU to take the lead as Robinson led by example, by accounting for nine of the points. GW had another scoring lull, this time for 5:29, permitting the Rams to lead by five following 30 minutes of play.
 
“We know that basketball is a game of runs and so our main thing is making sure we stay together as a team.” said Robinson. “We wanted to make sure we came out with some heart and give it all we got.”
 
Down seven in the early stages of the fourth quarter, GW went back on the attack keying a 12-2 run to go back in front by three points. Both teams continued to battle, when VCU broke through for a decisive 6-0 run as Chloe Bloom and Te-Biasu combined to score the necessary points that allowed the Rams to create separation and close the game out.
 
“You kind of feel like (in order) to win an A-10 Championship, you’ve got to be ready to play some VCU-Dayton,” O’Boyle said. “ Tomorrow will be another exciting game.”