Posted Sunday, Dec. 11, 5:41 p.m.
Senior Jessica Simmonds had 14 points and 13 rebounds to lead the Colonials to a 77-55 victory over Stony Brook (N.Y.) Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center. GW (3-3) began the game with a 9-0 run before jumping out to 31-8 lead in the first 14 minutes. The Seawolves (4-3) went through a seven-minute drought in the middle of the first half, failing to score a point. The Colonials led 39-17 at the end of the first half.

Stony Brook stepped up its offense in the second half, equaling GW’s 38 second-half points. The Seawolves never trailed by fewer than 17, however, and the Colonials increased their lead to as much as 27 at four different times in the game.

Junior Kenan Cole had 11 points, with sophomore Kim Beck adding 10. Freshmen Jamila Bates and Faith Peters each scored eight points in 13 and 11 minutes, respectively.

“I’ve kind of been in a slump the last couple of games so I really wanted to get out of that,” Cole said.

The Colonials shot 72.2 percent from the foul line, an improvement over the team’s 60 percent average for the first five games. They also shot 44.6 percent from the field, compared with the Seawolves’ 29.5 percent.

“I was more concentrated on making shots, I always have position but it’s just a matter of me finishing,” Simmonds said.

Juniors Sydney Orndorff and Mykeema Ford led the Seawolves with 15 and 14 points, respectively. Junior Jessica Smith had 12 points.

Every Colonial saw playing time in the matchup; freshman Jessica Adair made her first start after sitting out with an injury earlier in the season.

The matchup between the Colonials and the Seawolves, the two programs’ first, marked former GW player Erica Lawrence’s return to Foggy Bottom. She is a Stony Brook assistant coach. As a senior, Lawrence led the Colonials to a second-round appearance in the NCAA Tournament three years ago and proved to be an inspiration to many of the team’s current players.

“I came a year after Erica, but she was always around. I never played with her but I just knew her as a person and she was just a great person. It was like she was on the team because she always came back,” Simmonds said.

Coach Joe McKeown also shares a special relationship with Stony Brook head coach Maura McHugh. McKeown assisted McHughes’ Oklahoma Sooners for three seasons in the mid-1980s.

“Maura McHugh hired me in 1983,” McKeown said. “There are a lot of ties. I knew she was going to come in here and compete.”

The Seawolves traveled to Foggy Bottom coming off a 58-56 upset over No. 20 Temple Wednesday night. It was the biggest win in the program’s history, and in its first game against a ranked team. “Everyone on our schedule is a great team. It doesn’t matter who we’re playing, we just have to come out and compete every day,” Simmonds said.

The Colonials return to action at home Tuesday night as they take on Southern Methodist University of Texas. Game time is set for 7 p.m.