George Washington University

Jan. 10, 2009

Box Score

RICHMOND, VA - Senior Jazmine Adair's putback with 10.8 seconds left gave George Washington the lead, but Richmond's Danielle Bell banked in a 15-foot jumper with 1.5 seconds left to send the Colonials to a 66-65 loss in both teams' Atlantic 10 Conference opener at Robins Center Saturday evening.

GW (7-8, 0-1 A-10) trailed 64-60 with 2:36 remaining, but senior Yolanda Lavender hit a three-pointer from the top of the key to pull within one with 1:12 left. The Colonials' defense held and took possession with less than 35 seconds to play. Lavender found freshman Tara Booker along the baseline and Jazmine Adair rebounded the miss, scored on the putback and was fouled to give GW a 65-64 lead with 10.8 seconds to play.

Out of Richmond's (13-3, 1-0 A-10) timeout, Bell rebounded Jazmine Adair's miss from the line and drove the right sideline and tossed in a running shot on a drive from the wing for the game-winning basket. GW called timeout, but Antelia Parrish's heave from three-quarter court fell well short.

The loss is GW's fourth straight - all on the road - and is the team's first loss in an A-10 opener since 1998, a span of 10 games.

Parrish and senior Jessica Adair led GW with 15 points apiece, followed by nine points from Lavender and Booker. Lavender added five assists and redshirt sophomore Ivy Abiona paced the team with seven rebounds.

Richmond, fresh off an upset of No. 25 Wake Forest four days earlier, started strong and built a 10-point lead, 23-13, on a Bell three-pointer with 9:28 left in the first half. UR's lead stretched further to 28-17 on a Brittani Shells triple, but GW finished the final six-and-a-half minutes of the period with a 14-7 run, sparked by three's from Parrish and Booker, to trail by just four, 35-31, at the break.

The Colonials continued their climb back to begin the second half, first tying the game at 43-43 on Parrish's three-point play then grabbing a 45-44 lead on a Lavender jumper with 11:50 remaining. Parrish scored again on a driving layup to put GW up 47-44, but Richmond got three-pointers on three of its next five possessions and Crystal Goring hit a short turn-around jumper to push back to 56-51.

GW responded with a 9-2 run - six points from Jessica Adair and a Rivera three-pointer - to surge back ahead 60-58 with 4:31 to play.

Bell, who led all players with 19 points, hit her fifth 3-pointer of the game to spark a 6-0 rally which gave Richmond a 64-60 edge. Shells (15) and McKnight (13) also reached double digits, while Goring grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds.

GW, which had only nine players available for the second consecutive game, shot 45.5 percent from the floor, its highest rate in five games. The Colonials also limited the Spiders to 37.3 percent shooting, but nine of UR's 22 field goals were from behind the arc.

GW will look to snap a four-game losing streak in its return to Charles E. Smith Center Wednesday to host Saint Joseph's. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm.