With the first half coming to a close, and only a two second differential between the shot and game clocks, senior guard Danni Jackson lost the handle on the ball, quickly recovered and fired up an unorthodox desperation three. It banked in.
With a 19-point lead, that’s just how the game was going for the Colonials. But they soon learned how quickly a double-digit lead can start to dwindle away.
“We had stopped even putting our hands up, we had dropped them,” head coach Jonathan Tsipis said. “And it was time for us to take some punches.”
In the end, some strong leadership from the very seniors being honored on the final game of the regular season allowed GW to weather the storm and capture the victory, 68-55.
When the game opened, GW looked ready for the start of playoff basketball, running and executing on both ends of the court.
The Colonials were patient on offense, continually moving and sending crisp passes until a crack in Saint Louis’ defense was revealed. On defense, they turned up the intensity.
Playing much of the first half in a full court press, GW hounded the Billikens’ ball handlers, grabbed five steals and immediately went into transition mode, where they scored 13 points off turnovers.
“We just came out with the mindset that we were gonna really control the glass and get out in transition,” Tsipis said.
Megan Nipe was – literally – perfect in the first half, scoring 16 points off of 7-for-7 shooting. Whether lurking along the perimeter or driving off a screen, Nipe couldn’t help but find the bottom of the net.
“I just think my teammates did a great job of getting me open, and when I was open, getting me the ball,” Nipe said.
Following Nipe’s lead, the rest of the offense was just as in sync, shooting 63 percent from the field in the first.
As the second half got underway, it appeared as though the Colonials had become a bit too comfortable with their large first-half lead. The offense began running at a slower pace, and the guards consistently settled for long jumpers early in the possession.
“I think the things we got away from were [that] we didn’t rebound the ball well and we didn’t attack in transition or off the ball screen,” Tsipis said. “We got too complacent to run the offense and that gave them a little more momentum.”
Saint Louis quickly went on a 10-0 run, and the 19-point lead was now down to 10. Tsipis went back to the full court press to put an end to the storm, but GW still couldn’t get the offensive spark back, and the lead was cut to just seven.
Looking for anything to get momentum back on the Colonials’ side, fifth-year graduate student forward Sara Mostafa stepped up to the challenge. Mostafa scored on three straight GW possessions, and drew two “and-one” opportunities in the process.
GW was now back on the attack, driving the lane to get some easy buckets and preventing the Billikens from going on another run to close out the game.
Nipe finished with a career-high 20 points on 9-of-14 shooting. Mostafa finished her regular season career with 13 points and eight rebounds, getting help from another inside presence, senior Shi-Heria Shipp, who scored 10 points and had nine boards. Jackson was the fourth Colonial in double-figures, scoring 17 points to go along with six rebounds and four assists.
Nipe, Jackson and Shipp intend to petition for a fifth year of eligibility, looking to stay with the Colonials for one more season.
The barrage of scoring shows the many options that Tsipis will have heading into the postseason. Nipe may have been the hot hand tonight, but high-scoring games from multiple Colonials this season prove that any one of them can burst out.
GW is seeded eighth heading into the A-10 tournament, and will face Richmond at 11:30 a.m. Friday.
“It’s been a season of a lot of firsts, obviously my first season, an opportunity for us to get the most wins in conference in the last four years and the most overall wins,” Tsipis said. “And now it leads to another season of firsts, that we want to go and get that first A-10 win.”
