WASHINGTON, D.C. – The George Washington women’s basketball team limited Xavier to 25.8 percent shooting, and junior forward Brooke Wilson grabbed a career-high 18 rebounds, as the Colonials defeated the Musketeers, 54-44, on Wednesday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center. The boisterous crowd of 1,646 was made up of students from local schools who took part in Field Trip Day.
Both teams struggled offensively in the first half, combining to make just 16-of-64 attempts (25 percent). GW (11-12, 4-5 A-10) had two scoreless droughts of at least five minutes in the period but never trailed by more than one, and a long three-pointer by junior Danni Jackson at the buzzer gave the Colonials a 22-20 halftime lead.
GW looked like a different team to start the second half, as the Colonials came out of the locker room on fire, connecting on nine of their first 13 shots. After back-to-back Xavier three-pointers tied the game at 28-28 at the 16:38 mark, GW used a 15-2 run over the next five minutes to take a game-high 13-point lead, 43-30.
The Colonials cooled off over the final 10 minutes, however, missing 13 of their final 14 attempts from the floor, which allowed the Musketeers to slice its deficit to six points twice in the final minutes. But after struggling from the foul line early, GW made all six free throws in the last 1:21 of play to seal the 54-44 victory.
Jackson led all scorers with 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting, including a career-high 5-of-8 from long distance, and she added five rebounds and three assists, while freshman Chakecia Miller tallied 15 points, three assists and three steals.
Wilson’s 18 rebounds match Dayton’s Olivia Applewhite for the most in the Atlantic 10 this season and are tied for the 12th-most in program history.
Tyeasha Moss led Xavier (5-17, 2-7 A-10) with 15 points, while Shatyra Hawkes added nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.
The Musketeers shot just 25.8 percent in the game, the second-lowest percentage GW has allowed this season and the third time a Colonial opponent has shot less than 30 percent on the year. In addition, it is the seventh time GW has allowed less than 50 points in a game this season and the fourth time in the last five wins.
The Colonials return to action on Saturday, when they host Atlantic 10 rival Richmond at 2 p.m. in the annual Play 4Kay pink game.
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