GW had to beat just one more team to remain undefeated in conference play and enter next week’s Atlantic 10 Championship as the only team without a blemish on its conference record. But the Colonial women lost to UMass Sunday at the Mullins Center 62-53, to finish with a 15-1 conference record and ending a 15-game winning streak.

Not much is hurt by the loss, except maybe the Colonials’ pride: UMass (10-17, 8-8 A-10), ranked third in the A-10 West, should have been an easy opponent for the first-place Colonials. GW remains No. 1 in the West, having clinched the spot last week with a win over Dayton.

UMass 62, GW 53
Feb. 24
Mullins Center

Poor shooting hampered the women in their first loss in two months. In the 62-53 loss to UMass, GW connected on less than 35 percent of shots from the field, something the Colonials have not done in 17 games. UMass shot 40 percent for the day.

The Colonials scored a season-low 53 points and hit only 23 percent (5-21) from behind the three-point line. Cathy Joens (13 points) went 1-for-7 from three-point range, and Lindsey Davidson (13 points) was three for eight.

UMass freshman Monique Govan (4 points) drove in for a lay-up with 21 seconds left to give UMass a 28-26 advantage at the end of a back-and-forth first half.

The momentum led to a 17-6 Minutewomen run in the first 12 minutes of the second half for a 13-point lead. UMass never trailed again. Ugo Oha (16 points) brought the Colonials within one point with 2:57 remaining, but an Amber Sneed put-back off a missed UMass free throw put the Minutewomen back on top.

GW’s poor shooting allowed UMass free throws to play a large part in the game. UMass (21-27) scored 13 more points from behind the charity stripe than GW (8-12) on more than twice as many attempts.

GW 82, URI 56
Feb 22.
Keaney Gym

The Colonial women outscored host Rhode Island 17-2 and forced seven turnovers in the opening six minutes of play Friday, setting an early tone in their 82-56 victory. GW held the Rams to just 25 points on nine field goals in the first half on 42 percent shooting.

The defensive effort was led by Ugo Oha’s game-high six blocks and 11 rebounds. She blocked twice as many shots as the Rams combined, and she grabbed more than half as many rebounds as URI. The Colonials out-rebounded the Rams 35-19, including 12 offensive rebounds to URI’s three.

Oha was also the offensive standout, with a team-high 18 points. This is the second-consecutive game Oha has been the leading scorer for the Colonials, started with her career-high 24 point effort against Xavier last weekend.

Behind Oha and Cathy Joens, who scored 17 points and shot 4-for-7 from three point range, the Colonials shot a blistering 60 percent from the field and shot over 60 percent from behind the arc. Lindsey Davidson nailed her only attempt from the three-point line and finished with 11, while Erica Lawrence rounded out the double-figure scorers with 10.