Women’s basketball fell to Davidson on the road Wednesday night.
The Colonials (11-15, 4-9 A-10) buckled to the Wildcats (14-2, 6-9 A-10) 51-46 in their final road game of the regular season. The Colonials held the lead through the first half, but the Wildcats gained ground in the second half, capitalizing on a struggling GW offense.
Redshirt junior forward Mayowa Taiwo led all players on the court with 15 points, finishing 7-of-11 from the field. On the other side of the court, senior guard Chloe Welch ended the night with 13 points shooting 4-of-13 from the floor and 4-of-4 from the line.
GW put up a strong defensive start to the first quarter, holding the Wildcats to just 4-of-12 shooting from the field. Sophomore guard Aurea Gingras got the Colonials started with a pair of mid-range scores, giving her team the early advantage.
After a 3-ball from graduate student guard Kyara Frames, the Wildcats converted two quick scores off turnovers and cut the GW lead to just one. As the first quarter wound down, GW dominated the paint scoring three straight from inside the box and extending their lead to 16-9.
But a buzzer-beater 3 from Davidson junior guard Cameron Tabor sliced the lead to just four heading into the second quarter.
The Colonials remained in the driver’s seat in the second quarter, never relinquishing their lead and extending it to an eight-point advantage mid-way through. Taiwo dominated from down low, netting 10 points and five rebounds through the first half on the way to her second double-double in the last three games.
The second quarter saw better shooting efficiency from both sides and with five minutes to go, GW held a comfortable eight-point lead. But the Wildcats would not go away quietly, going on a 7-0 run led by junior guard Suzi-Rose Deegan, slashing the lead to just one point.
The half finished with two Wildcat fouls, but GW finished just 1-of-5 from the line, an area with which they’ve struggled all season. The Colonials are 59.9 percent from the line compared to their opponents’ overall of 63.7 percent.
By the end of the half, the Colonials were 12-of-26 from the field and 3-of-8 from beyond the arc compared to Davidson’s 9-of-22 from the floor and 3-of-7 from deep.
The second half got off to a slow start offensively, as neither team scored within the first two minutes. After a wide open, game-tying layup for Davidson, the free-throw line woes continued for GW with Taiwo notching a quick 0-of-2 from the stripe.
The Wildcats grabbed their first lead of the night on an inbounds give-and-go, setting the stage for a tight finish. Shortly thereafter, GW called a momentum-stopping timeout to regroup with 7:07 left in the third quarter.
The rest of the third quarter saw both teams trading leads, mostly scoring inside as GW continued to struggle from the line. With just seconds to go, Taiwo drew a foul and converted 1-of-2 from the stripe, trimming the Davidson lead to just one heading into the fourth.
Davidson opened the fourth quarter with a beautiful reverse layup from senior guard Sarah Konstas that extended their lead to three. After trading buckets, the Wildcats signaled a timeout with seven minutes to play leading 42-39.
After another three straight mid-range scores from Davidson, GW found themselves down a game-high nine points with just 6:00 to play. But the Colonials cobbled together a run of their own, scoring five consecutive points, including a big-time shot from beyond the arc by Frames less than 30 seconds later.
Attempting to cut the lead to just one possession, Taiwo stepped up to the line but missed both free shots. Davidson responded with two free throws of their own, going up 49-44 with three minutes to play.
Scoring from the low post again, Taiwo secured a layup to cut the Davidson lead to three, with 2:34 to go. Another defensive stop set the Colonials up for a potential game-tying possession, but they came up empty, turning the ball over with 1:06 left and still trailing by three.
After trading turnovers both ways, the Colonials were forced to foul following a missed layup by Frames, sealing their fate with nine seconds trailing by five points. In what Head Coach Caroline McCombs called their “Achilles’ heel” last week, GW shot just 4-of-15 from the free throw line, a deciding factor in the defeat.
For their final regular season game, the Colonials will take on La Salle at home Saturday for a 2 p.m. tipoff.