WASHINGTON – Senior Danni Jackson scored a season-high 21 points as the George Washington women’s basketball team defeated local rival George Mason, 60-52, on Saturday afternoon at the Charles E. Smith Center.
GW (6-5) won its second straight over an opponent from the Washington, D.C.-Metro area following last Saturday’s thrilling 61-60 victory over Howard.
Jackson connected on 9-of-15 attempts from the field and added seven assists and five rebounds. Senior Megan Nipe recorded nine points, seven rebounds and three assists, while senior Shi-Heria Shipp also scored nine points and added five boards and graduate student Tara Booker tallied seven points and a team-best nine rebounds.
The Colonials opened the game with a 12-2 run and led 17-6 with 9:18 to go, as George Mason (4-5) missed 13 of its first 16 shots. Jackson scored six straight points in GW’s opening run. The Patriots were able to cut their deficit to four points with 5:45 left, but Jackson responded with three straight baskets to give the Colonials a double-digit advantage again.
However, after shooting 52 percent for most of the first half, GW missed its final five attempts of the period, as Mason scored nine straight points to enter the break down just one, 25-24.
GW opened the second half with an 8-2 run before George Mason guard Rahneeka Saunders sank four straight free throws to cut it to three with 15 minutes to play. The Colonials scored another eight in a row to regain an 11-point advantage, and after a mini five-point spurt by Mason, Nipe, Jackson and Booker combined for a 10-2 GW run that included back-to-back three-pointers by Nipe and Booker to give the Colonials their biggest lead of the game, 51-37, with 10:20 to go.
The Patriots, however, responded with a 15-4 burst of their own, sparked by a Saunders triple, and a jumper by Talisha Watts at the 2:59 mark made it a three-point game, 55-52. But GW was able to keep Mason off the board for the remainder of the game, as the Patriots missed their final five attempts from the floor. Jackson scored the final five points of the game for GW, connecting on a layup and 3-of-4 free throws to give the Colonials the 60-52 win.
GW shot 44.3 percent in the game while holding Mason to just 29.0 percent from the field, the fourth time this season that the Colonials have held an opponent below 30 percent shooting. GW also held a 44-42 rebounding edge over the Patriots.
Watts led George Mason with 12 points, while Easter recorded a double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Saunders finished with 11 points and nine boards but was just 2-of-13 from the floor.
After nearly a week off for the holidays, the Colonials return to action on Friday, Dec. 28, when they visit No. 8 California.
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