Who needs nails when you get to see as exciting a game as last night's second round Preseason Women's National Invitation Tournament? Virginia outlasted a determined George Washington team in a 72-66 nailbiter despite subpar performances from the Cavs big three of forwards Schuye LaRue, Svetlana Volnaya and guard Telisha Quarles.
The No. 15 Cavaliers (2-0) were up as much as 13 points in the second half before letting the lead slip away. The Colonials (1-1) stormed back to take the lead 56-55 on a jumper by guard Corrin Reid with seven minutes, 55 seconds left in the game.
The teams exchanged leads for the next five minutes before Quarles got her offense on track, draining a three from the top of the key to tie the game. Quarles' shot shifted the momentum back to the Cavs and on the next trip down, she made another three to give Virginia the lead for good with 2:27 remaining.
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"It really helps to be able to know how we're going to respond in close situations," Virginia coach Debbie Ryan said. "Towards the end, when G.W. caught up, they showed a lot of character to be able to pull it together and listen to directions and be able to put out there what I was asking."
George Washington responded well to being down eight at the half, outscoring Virginia 38-36 in the second. The Colonials received strong performances from Reid and freshman center Ugo Oha, who each scored 16.
However turnovers haunted George Washington. The Colonials suffered three of their 19 giveaways in the final three minutes of the game and lost a surprising battle in the paint, where the shorter Cavaliers out-rebounded them, 49-43.
"It was a physical game," George Washington coach Joe McKeown said. "I'm not big on stats, but one stat that just killed us was Virginia got 20 offensive rebounds. That shouldn't happen when your front line is as big as ours."
Virginia started slowly in the first half before Quarles nailed a three-pointer two minutes into the game. One minute later, forward Schuye LaRue committed her second foul of the game and Ryan promptly removed her.
Ryan decided to keep LaRue out for the rest of the first and the Cavaliers had to utilize their bench to carry the load. Forwards Chalois Lias and Marcie Dickson responded with timely performances.
In the first half, Lias scored 11 points, snared 10 rebounds and blocked three shots in 12 minutes, while Dickson garnered eight points and five rebounds in 10 minutes. Quarles finished with 17 points and five assists despite only having three points in the first half.
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