Coming off a road loss to La Salle Thursday night, the GW women’s basketball team needed a spark against Dayton Sunday. Freshman Kimberly Beck provided it, helping the Colonials down Dayton 71-59.

GW (14-7, 7-3 Atlantic 10) came out sluggish against Dayton (10-11, 4-6 A-10), but Beck’s play drove her team down the stretch.

With the score tied at 42 with just over 12 minutes remaining, her hustle seemed to light a fire in her and her teammates. Running for a loose ball, she leapt over the press row table to save a ball from going out of bounds. Seconds later, she received a pass at the wing, drained a three-pointer, drew a foul and completed the four-point play.

After a Dayton miss on the next possession, Beck (9 points, 6 assists), drove to the hoop for a lay-up, drew a foul and finished the three-point play. She scored seven of her nine points in that 46-second span (12:32 to 11:46), as the Colonials outscored Dayton 23-13 in the game’s final 13 minutes.

Beck credited her team’s defense, not her individual play, for the win. The Colonials held Dayton to 30 percent shooting after intermission.

“When our defense steps up, our offense follows,” Beck said. “Our defense gets us going.”

GW head coach Joe McKeown, however, did credit Beck.

“Her hustle really took the momentum from Dayton,” he said. “It was big.”

The Colonials started out shaky in the first, allowing the Flyers to jump out and control the tempo of the game. GW traded baskets and with the score tied at 15 with 7:44 left, Dayton went on a 10-0 run, including a flurry of turnovers and missed opportunities by GW. GW fought back but went into the locker room down 34-28 at the half.

The Colonials shot poorly from the free throw line (3-for-10) in the first and turned the ball over eight times. McKeown didn’t think the play in the first half was as bad as the score showed.

“I didn’t think we were playing particularly bad,” McKeown said. “Shots just weren’t falling.”

Dayton double and triple-teamed senior Anna Monta?ana, who was not phased by the Flyers’ efforts. She scored 17 points and had six assists, which helped her move into fourth place all-time at GW in career assists.

Senior Jessica Simmonds had a game-high 18 points while sophomore Whitney Allen had a career high with 12 points and nine rebounds.

On Friday night, the Colonials lost to La Salle for the first time in 26 years. The Explorers beat the Colonials 65-53 in Philadelphia.

GW was at the wrong end of an 11-0 second half run by La Salle that left them down 45-32 with just under 11 minutes remaining. The lead proved to be insurmountable.

The Colonials start a three-game road trip on Thursday at Duquesne. McKeown said if the Colonials are to continue into March, they need people to step up. When asked if he thinks this is possible he said, “Of course, we are GW.”