Women's basketball falls in overtime to George Washington

Richmond women’s basketball team lost to the conference-leading George Washington Colonials in an overtime thriller Thursday night.

After battling all game to keep pace with the Colonials, Janelle Hubbard hit a desperation heave from 3-point range to send the game into overtime. She picked up her dribble amidst a double team and barely squeezed the ball between the defenders’ arms, but it somehow found the bottom of the net to give the Spiders new life.

Less than a minute into the overtime period, Gen Okoro fouled out and George Washington seized momentum, outscoring Richmond 14-2 in overtime to win 81-69. Hubbard and Liz Brown fouled out before the end of the game as well.

Hubbard finished with 21 points to lead all scorers. Okoro had 15 points and six rebounds and Lauren Tolson added 12 points, five rebounds and four assists.

George Washington had several players make significant contributions, led by Ciara Washington with 17 points and eight rebounds. Jonquel Jones may have had the biggest impact though, posting a double-double of 13 points and 16 rebounds, adding four assists, two blocks and three steals.

Jones and Washington gave the Spiders fits inside all game, which figured to be the big difference in the outcome. Lauren Chase scored 16 points and notched five assists and Hannah Schaible finished with 10 points, five rebounds, and three steals as well.

Though a loss to George Washington, the first-place team in the Atlantic 10, is nothing to be ashamed of, the game gave some insight into some of the team’s problems this season.

For one, the Spiders have not rebounded well at all this year. They have a rebounding margin of almost negative five rebounds per game. The script was no different against George Washington, as the Spiders the rebound battle by a margin of 45-26, a whopping 19 rebounds. Offensive rebounds were particularly problematic, with the Spiders grabbing only six compared to 15 for the Colonials.

Another problem highlighted against George Washington was the team’s inability to prevent inside scoring. Richmond gave up 42 points in the paint, a high number that reflects a chronic problem for the Richmond frontcourt.

Those problems aside, Richmond did manage to force overtime and has proven this season that it can compete with any team. The Spiders do a particularly good job in the turnover battle and did on Thursday as well, scoring 25 points off turnovers compared to just 11 for George Washington. This Richmond team has displayed grit all season, playing relatively well even when it is overmatched by bigger teams.

The loss drops Richmond (16-12 overall, 8-7 in the A-10) back into sixth because a previous loss to Rhode Island acts as a tiebreaker against the Spiders. The final game of the regular season is across town at VCU (16-12 overall, 7-8 in the A-10) on Sunday in a game that will be pivotal for both teams, as many seeds for the conference tournament are still up for grabs.