Category Archives: Campus
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GW Lets Their Season Slip Away Late in 1st Round Loss to UMass at A10 Tourney
Jeff Pawling
Men’s Basketball Writer
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – After 37 minutes of back-and-forth basketball at the Barclays Center on Thursday night, it seemed as though George Washington was on the verge of pulling out another hard fought victory over the sixth seeded Massachusetts Minutemen in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship. However, over the final three minutes, the Colonials watched their season unravel right before their eyes as UMass used a 13-4 run to steal the win by a final score of 77-72.
GW had four scorers in double figures, including Isaiah Armwood, who secured his ninth and final double-double of the season with an impressive 16 points and 13 rebounds. Lasan Kromah finished with 11 points off the bench while Joe McDonald scored 10 points of his own. Yet, it was Kevin Larsen who led the team in scoring with 17 points to go along with seven rebounds.
However, it was Larsen’s travel in his own backcourt with 2:33 left that began the downward spiral for the Colonials, who, until that point, had been engaged in a tug-of-war with the Minutemen for control of the game. GW seemed to have taken control in the moments before, grabbing a five point lead with 3:53 remaining. However, the Minutemen stayed in it thanks to consecutive three-pointers by Trey Davis. Larsen’s turnover allowed UMass to gain possession and take the lead on a Chaz Williams’ with 2:24 to play.
The Colonials would fight back, briefly taking the lead on two occasions. However, UMass would respond immediately in both cases by exploiting GW’s fatigue that resulted in porous defense. Chaz Williams’ fastbreak layup with 1:18 left would give the Minutemen the lead for good, as the Colonials had, by that point, run out of gas and could not find an answer.
UMass finished with four players of their own in double figures, led by the aforementioned Williams, who scored 16 points to go along with eight assists and four rebounds. Trey Davis and Terrell Vinson added 14 points each and Raphiael Putney scored 12 in the win, which secured for them a meeting with third seeded Temple on Friday night.
As for GW, the Colonials’ season ended tonight in the most bitter way imaginable, as they let UMass escape with a win despite outplaying the Minutemen in most categories. GW outrebounded UMass 50-32, including 25-13 on the offensive glass. They outscored them in points in the paint and second chance points and even had a better free throw percentage than their opponents. However, their 0-8 line from beyond the arc and their 18 turnovers resulting in 14 UMass points stand out glaringly in a game that GW had every opportunity to win.
But instead, it is yet another close loss and a bitter ending to the season for a team whose 2012-13 campaign will undoubtedly be defined by missed opportunities. Look out on Sunday for a full recap of the Colonials’ season, featuring the highs and lows of yet another basketball season in Foggy Bottom.
GW Women’s Hoops Season Ends with Quarterfinal Loss to #11 Dayton
Raynell Cooper
Women’s Basketball Writer
PHILADELPHIA - Coach Jonathan Tsipis’ debut season at the helm of the Colonials saw many high notes, and though the final game, a 74-49 loss to a nationally-ranked Dayton Flyers team, was not one of them, this team was able to get their most wins since 2009, give outgoing graduate students Sara Mostafa and Tara Booker their first postseason win, and set themselves up for a busy spring.
Booker pulled down eight boards and led the way for GW with 12 points. Senior guard Shi-Heria Shipp also scored in double figures with 11, and her boards helped GW win that battle 39-34. Mostafa, though not particularly successful shooting, was able to get seven rebounds of her own.
The Dayton Flyers (27-1, 14-0 Atlantic 10) proved a bit too much for the Colonials (14-16, 8-8 Atlantic 10) to handle in a rematch of an 80-51 Dayton win in Ohio earlier this season. GW kept things close until Dayton was able to go on a 15-2 tear to end the half, which included a transition three from guard Andrea Hoover. Transition scoring was key, especially early on for Dayton. The Flyers’ phenomenal ability to hit stop-and-pop jumpers in transition fueled the Flyers and set them up to have a 43-21 lead at the half.
Coach Tsipis was keenly aware of Dayton’s quickness, noting that “Dayton’s way too good of a team…to be half a step slow.” They got beaten down the court by just enough on several occasions to allow easy baskets. Dayton would lob the ball down the court as opposed to bringing it down traditionally, especially in the first half, which would give their shooters a few extra steps.
The blistering speed of Dayton slowed down a bit in the second half, allowing the Colonials to keep the Flyers from really flying away. The 22-point deficit did not shrink by much, but GW kept the deficit under 25 in the first fifteen minutes of the half.
“That was a tough mountain to come back from,” said Tsipis about the deficit. He was impressed in his team’s ability to play this talented Dayton team close. Offensively, GW was often forced to pass several times to get clean looks at the basket. “They were the aggressor,” said Tsipis. “We took a lot of shots at the end of the shot clock, I think that just revs up their transition game.” Dayton recorded 11 blocks, led by forward Jodie Cornelie Sigmundova with five. Guards and forwards alike were being stopped by the bigs inside by Dayton.
The Colonials finish the season with a loss, but they have a lot to be proud of. Check back to this site later in the week for a full recap of GW’s season.
GW Outlasts Dayton in Thrilling Finish on Senior Day
Jeff Pawling
Men’s Basketball Writer
WASHINGTON – Finally, a last second game went their way.
Isaiah Armwood’s put-back dunk off a missed Lasan Kromah layup with two seconds left gave GW a thrilling 81-80 win in overtime over Dayton on Senior Day, punching the Colonials’ ticket to the Atlantic 10 Tournament in the process with St. Bonaventure’s unexpected loss to Fordham.
The Colonials had five players in double-figures, led by freshman Joe McDonald, who posted 16 points on 7-11 shooting, including 2-2 from beyond the arc. Seniors Dwayne Smith and Bryan Bynes both started in their final game on Tex Silverman Court and combined for 28 points, with Smith scoring 15 and Bynes 13. Bynes was a surprise starter today after missing the past four games with a fractured right tibial plateau, but his added presence was felt from the start, as he produced both offensively and defensively, drawing constant matchups with Dayton’s high-powered guards Kevin Dillard and Vee Sanford.
Lasan Kromah added 12 points and five rebounds in 31 minutes off the bench for the Colonials while the aforementioned Isaiah Armwood contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
The game itself was a roller coaster ride for GW, who led by as much as six and trailed by as much as 11 just in the first 10:51 of the first half. A fast start for the Colonials, spurred on by the unexpected return and energy of Bryan Bynes, gave way to a 19-2 Dayton run that put the Flyers ahead 21-10 with 9:09 left in the half. Dayton was able to hold that 11 point lead for the next four minutes before GW ended the half on a 17-6 run to tie the game at 33 heading into the locker room.
The Colonials managed to do an extremely good job of keeping themselves within striking distance in the second half, never trailing by more than six points, despite numerous attempts from the Flyers to pull away. Dayton had a chance to put the Colonials away with 7:05 to go and up five, but could not get the defensive stop they needed. This, combined with GW’s persistence driving to the rim and drawing fouls, allowed the Colonials to claw back into the game and eventually tie it with 4:33 left on a Kevin Larsen layup.
The game would go back and forth down the stretch, with Lasan Kromah knotting it up at 71 on an uncontested layup with 39 seconds left. After a crucial defensive stop, GW had a chance to win it with four seconds left. However, Bryan Bynes’ runner off the glass went in-and-out, sending a GW game into overtime for the first time since March 8, 2011.
Overtime only continued the tenseness of the affair, with Dayton seeming to have taken control of the game up four with 1:03 left and controlling possession of the ball. Yet, Dyshawn Pierre dribbled the ball off his foot and right into the hands of Joe McDonald, who laid it in to make a two-point game with 40 seconds left. On the ensuing inbound, Khari Price threw the ball away, right to Dwayne Smith who proceeded to get the floater to go, tying the game at 79.
Matt Derenbecker was able to draw a blocking foul on Smith and make one of his two free throws, giving Dayton an 80-79 lead with seven seconds left and providing a situation that, until today, had proven to be kryptonite for the team.
But that was not the case today, as Isaiah Armwood streaked through a wide open lane that Dayton’s bigs failed to box out and provided the put-back jam to give GW an 81-80 lead, sending the surprisingly large crowd into a frenzy.
Dayton still had one more chance to win the game, with Dyshawn Pierre getting the ball in the corner and draining a three-pointer at the buzzer. However, it was determined that Armwood, who had jumped to block the shot, caused Pierre to hesitate on the shot just long enough that he did not get the shot off before the buzzer, preserving the win for GW.
Dayton (17-13, 7-9 Atlantic 10), who had entered the game Saturday on a three-game winning streak and a stretch of five games in which they averaged over 80 points and shot better than 50 percent, did nothing to end that stretch today, as four players scored in double figures, including Pierre, who led the Flyers with 21 points on 8-9 shooting. Dayton’s leading scorer, Kevin Dillard, scored 20 points of his own but fouled out with 4:31 remaining in overtime, depriving Dayton of their best free throw shooter and closer down the stretch. Fellow guard Vee Sanford scored 18 points and Josh Benson scored 10 on a perfect 5-5 shooting.
Yet, the Flyers will undoubtedly leave Foggy Bottom with a bitter taste in their mouths as their Atlantic 10 Tournament hopes now hang in the balance while the Colonials (13-16, 7-9 Atlantic 10) ticket to Brooklyn is punched with St. Bonaventure’s unexpected home loss to Fordham this afternoon.
Furthermore, today’s effort from GW was a sign of that potential that everyone saw from this team at the start of the season. It was not always pretty, with a stat of 20-42 from the charity stripe likely to leave many Colonials fans shaking their heads. Yet, when the going got tough, it seemed as though GW had an answer, a far cry from their last nine games, seven of which ended in GW defeats.
The win gives them a ton of momentum that they will hope to build on entering the tournament. It is clear that the return of Bryan Bynes gives them a newfound confidence defensively, which will only help GW. Assuming that Patricio Garino will be able to go in the tournament opener, a questionable proposition according to head coach Mike Lonergan postgame, the Colonials will be in great shape defensively. If they can manage to get enough offense, it could make for an extremely interesting week in Brooklyn.
The Colonials will now await the rest of the results from the Atlantic 10 schedule to determine their seeding entering next week’s Atlantic 10 Tournament at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn. WRGW will have full coverage from Brooklyn starting with GW’s first game on Thursday, March 14th. The time of the game will be announced once the seeding for the tournament has been finalized.
Colonials Start Strong, End Strong in First Postseason Win Since 2008
Raynell Cooper
Women’s Basketball Writer
PHILADELPHIA - Postseason basketball: where teams take their energy and urgency as far as they can. The Colonials were able to push it a little farther than Richmond on Friday.
GW runs of 15-2 and 10-2 bookended what proved to be a thrilling 8-9 battle in the first game of the Atlantic 10 Women’s Basketball Championship, as the Colonials (14-15, 8-7 A-10) were able to get a 59-53 win over the Richmond Spiders (16-15, 6-9) to advance to the quarterfinals.
In a game that was a rematch of a 57-54 GW win in Washington back in early February, the Colonials were able to shoot 44 percent, their seventh game at or above that mark this season. They were led in scoring by senior guard Danni Jackson, who scored 13 points and recorded five assists and three steals. Senior forward Megan Nipe netted 12 points and pulled down six boards, and graduate student forward Tara Booker just missed out on a double-double, grabbing 12 rebounds to go with nine points.
After a layup by redshirt senior Rachael Bilney in the opening minutes, the Colonials rattled off 15 straight, including a three by Danni Jackson. “I thought we started the game with a great sense of urgency,” said head coach Jonathan Tsipis after the game. The Colonials shot 7-12 to start things off, finding open jumpers and having success getting the ball into the post.
However, that run would be ended by a jumper from junior guard Becca Wann, who came off the bench and dominated offensively in the first half. While the rest of her Spider teammates shot 5-28 from the field, Wann went 4-6 and scored 13 before the halftime break. Also a varsity soccer player at Richmond, she used her quickness to get around the Colonials man-to-man defense, which otherwise kept Richmond cold.
The key to that defense was graduate student center Sara Mostafa, who also came off the bench to contribute. She did a great job of both sticking to her assigned player and manning the post, dissuading any would-be penetrators and helping to force poor shot selection.
After that run, the game tightened up significantly. From the 7:58 mark in the first half until over five minutes into the second half, neither team was able to string together two uninterrupted scoring possessions. Richmond was able to inch closer on the back of threes by Wann and redshirt senior Samantha Bilney, making it a six-point game at halftime.
The second half saw a shift in emphasis offensively for the Spiders, as GW moved senior Shi-Heria Shipp onto Wann which, combined with foul trouble, held Wann to just four points in the half. Coach Tsipis said that his players “did a better job of taking away her dribble-drive action” in the second half, in part due to Shipp’s ability to stick tight to Wann.
Junior guard Kristina King was able to pick up the slack, however, scoring 14 points in the second half. Richmond stuck with the Colonials and was able to finally take a lead with 5:55 left to go in the game at 51-49.
Crucial to Richmond’s ability to come back late in the game was offensive rebounding. Usually a hallmark of this team, GW was able to nab just three offensive boards in the first 30 minutes of the game. Also allowing the Spiders to retake the lead was their ability on defense, especially in the second half, to prevent efficient penetrations from the guards.
GW had lost leads before, but they knew that they had to play differently. “We didn’t blink,” said Tsipis of the Richmond comeback. “[Jackson] did a great job of keeping this team composed when they were making their run.” Her leadership and the level-headedness of the players in the later stretch of the game helped them come back from that small deficit and hold on for the win.
After being down 51-49, GW finished strong on a 10-2 run, which included several made free throws that helped ice the game. The Colonials were able to execute their defense effectively, stopping the Spiders from getting to the basket and getting open looks without drawing many costly fouls.
This is a major win for what has been a historically successful GW women’s basketball program. The Colonials have not made the semifinals of the conference tournament after doing it in 26 of the previous 27 years, and this is the first postseason win for anyone on the roster, including Sara Mostafa and Tara Booker, who are in their final year. Tsipis is not taking the win for granted, as he is appreciative of that fact that there are “a lot of teams that don’t get to play again tomorrow.”
As Tsipis alluded to, the Colonials will take the floor tomorrow in the quarterfinals, going up against the top seed in the tournament, the #11 Dayton Flyers (26-1, 14-0) from Hagan Arena. The tip is at noon, and you can catch all of the action on WRGW Sports – Colonials Radio Central at gwradio.com.
