With Atlantic 10 conference play nearly halfway through, the women’s basketball team finds itself in a tie for first place in the conference with Charlotte. The Colonials posted weekend wins over Fordham on Friday and at Richmond on Sunday, giving them a 14-5 record overall, 7-1 mark in conference.

GW entered Richmond coming off a 67-34 blowout over Fordham. The Colonials kept the momentum flowing with a 70-59 win over the Spiders.

Richmond opened the game strong, hitting three three-pointers and jumping out to a five-point lead. The Colonials quickly caught up, and the lead changed five times in the first 11 minutes of play. After almost four scoreless minutes, freshman Chantelle John scored to set off a Colonials 9-0 run. GW entered halftime up 32-25.

The Colonials built their lead in the second half, leading by as much as 15 with five minutes remaining. The Spiders cut the Colonials’ lead to seven within the last two minutes.

Sophomore Kim Beck led the Colonials with 17 points, shooting three three-pointers and a perfect six-for-six from the free-throw line. Freshman Jessica Adair added a career-high 14 points, while junior Kenan Cole knocked in 12 points.

Senior Amber Petillon led Richmond (8-13, 3-6 A-10) with 13 points. Freshman Sarah Williams and senior Saona Chapman added 11 points apiece.

Before Friday’s matchup, senior Jessica Simmonds was honored for scoring her 1000th collegiate point, which she tallied in December against Southern Methodist. The Colonials honored her with a defensive show to hold the visiting Rams to the fewest points allowed by an opponent since 1992.

“Our defensive effort was good from the opening tip and that’s something we’ve focused on in practice all week,” coach Joe McKeown said. “We had a few breakdowns at Massachusetts, which was unlike us. It was a good week to focus on the defensive end. We created a lot of havoc, a lot of turnovers.”

Cole gave GW a jumpstart to begin the game, scoring the team’s first seven points. She also led the team with 13 points.

“I like to come out and get off to a strong start,” she said. “If the shots go in, that’s great. But the main thing is to come out with a lot of energy and help the team out.”

The Colonials capitalized on the Rams’ 31 turnovers, scoring 35 points. They also had 36 points in the paint and 14 second-chance points. Fordham, meanwhile, shot 28.2 percent from the field, making only 11 of the 39 attempted shots. No Fordham player reached double digits, with junior Lisa Carrol leading the team with nine points.

Beck had 11 points for the Colonials, including three three-pointers. Adair had 10 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Sarah-Jo Lawrence also added 10 points.

With the two wins, GW solidified its position at the top of the conference.

“We just wanted to send a message that we were not going to play like we did last Sunday,” McKeown said. “That wasn’t acceptable.”