Yes March 3. I guess playing everyday can make one hurry. 

Alas, women lose 68-56.

GW closes out the A10 season with a hard fought 68-56 loss to URI.
 
1st Quarter:  It was an ugly start for both teams but URI at least managed to make 3 layups to take a 6-2 lead in the first 5 minutes. GW could only manage 2 free throws by Lok, and had their troubles getting clean shots. GW had the last shot trailing 10-8 behind a pair of Blethen 3’s, but Innis made an ill-advised drive to the basket, lost the ball and then fouled a URI player 70 feet away from the basket. After 3 free throws made, the Rams led 13-8 to start the 2nd quarter.
2nd Quarter: Despite some lousy officiating that gave URI three technical free throws, GW cut the lead to 18-17 early in the quarter. Then, URI imposed its height, and with Taiwo on the bench with two fouls, Megassa jumped over whoever was guarding her for 3 easy baskets. Only Lok’s great half (14 points) kept GW within shouting distance at 33-26. Lakstigala was held scoreless and Robertson had a single field goal for the Colonials.
3rd Quarter: Teams battled hard to start the quarter with no team gaining an advantage at the official timeout. With 5 points each the score stood 38-31. For the rest of the quarter, GW couldn’t overcome the Rams' height and the lead grew to 49-39 to start the 4th period. Lok continued her consistent play and entered the last quarter with 21 points.
4th Quarter: A gassed GW had problems keeping up and some bad shots led to easy transitions baskets for URI. At the official timeout, the lead ballooned to 58-44 for URI. After the timeout, GW came out in a press that rattled the Rams, and the Colonials cut the lead to 4 with a couple of minutes to go behind Robertsons’ scoring spurt. After that, a few misguided shots led to a fouling spree that let URI control the closing seconds of the game to close it out 68-56.
 
In the end it was too much height and depth that determined the outcome. URI outscored GW 38-20 in the paint and finished the game at 41.2% field goal accuracy. By contrast, GW only hit on 30.6% and sent the Rams to the line 23 times. URI used their bench generously throughout the game, but GW relied mainly on 6 six players. Credit URI for shutting Lakstigala down and particularly holding her zero makes on just 4 attempts from beyond the arc and making it extremely difficult for Taiwo inside. Credit GW for playing hard until the end.
 
Lok had her second consecutive 20+ point outing and Robertson had a great bounce back game with 19 points in just 24 minutes. Lakstigala finished 1-12 from the field and Taiwo was held scoreless, but this was still a 4-point game with 2 minutes left to play. With the season presumably over, we only left to speculate about about next year and specifically, which seniors, if any will return. Also, it will be interesting to see how the coaching staff addresses the size issue. Like many of the dominant tall players in the A10, both Toure and Megassa return to URI next year. If we don’t address this issue, the road to further success will be that much harder to achieve.
 
Shout out to the team. Thanks for a great season. Best of luck to all of them in the offseason (if in fact we’re done). Everyone enjoy the offseason!

Last edited by xAC (3/03/2023 7:40 pm)

Very proud of how the team performed this year. They certainly exceeded my personal expectations as well as expectations around the league (I think they were picked 12th in the preseason poll?). There's no shame in losing to this URI team and it's so hard to match up with their size. All three freshman signed for next season are listed as 6'1 and above so that could be an asset but I think McCombs would be wise to bring in some experience in the front court.

Curious to see who sticks around and who goes this offseason. I think the team will look pretty different next year but it remains to be seen how different it will look. Overall I am pleased with this season and am excited to watch the team continue to grow