The GW women’s basketball team ended its final nonconference game on a high note, but Wednesday’s narrow win against Villanova highlighted adjustments that must be made in order for the team to excel in Atlantic 10 play.

Outscored in the second half, the Colonials held on to a seven-point lead to win 67-60, despite a huge scoring effort by Villanova’s Laura Kurz, who got 29 points against GW’s defense.

But GW head coach Mike Bozeman said the game was a much needed confidence booster for the team

“We’ve had a rough nonconference schedule,” Bozeman said. “We took some hits on the jaw. And we’re still on our feet after. It’s nothing but a confidence-builder.”

Bozeman added, “We’re rounding into the type of team that I thought we could be at the top of the season.”

Despite the win, there are still areas that beg improvement. Assists need to be a team effort; guard Yolanda Lavender was responsible for seven of the team’s 11. Though the team has vastly improved their penchant for turnovers, they still recorded 13, more than twice what Villanova gave up.

“We’ve been having lower turnovers in the prior games up to this one, but the last two have been a lot better in turnovers,” Bozeman said. “That area we’ve been really working on.”

The Colonials will also have to play the remainder of their schedule without senior Lisa Steele, who has been announced ineligible as of Monday, January 12. Steele had played only 53 minutes this year in six games while dealing with nagging foot injuries. Reasons were not given for Steele’s ineligibility, but Bozeman said she is still a part of the team “family.”

“It’s a tough loss for us,” Bozeman said. “It’s another reason for me to be proud of my team for being tough, being down yet another person.”

But as the team gears up for the A-10 stretch, senior Jessica Adair isn’t worried.

“We know what we have to do on both ends of the court and it’s just a matter of us bringing that intensity to every possession,” Adair said. “Teams are going to make runs at us and hit big buckets but we know what we have to do on the offensive end as well as the defensive end to get it done.”

Wednesday night the Colonials showed they could play on both ends of the floor, but they will have to maintain the same success in both halves of the game for the rest of the season.