GW senior guard Hannah Schaible put her imprint on the game in every way possible, finishing with 11 points,a game high 9 rebounds, 5 assist and 5 steals.
GW Women's looked to get the sour taste out of their mouth's after dropping their first contest of season against crosstown rival Georgetown. In a close contest through three quarters in which GW led 48-40, the Colonials allowed 32 points in the fourth quarter from the Hoyas, falling to Georgetown 72-57. The Colonials was determined to right the ship in their home opener against Princeton (0-2).....mission accomplished. GW led by senior guard Hannah Schaible's all around play defeated the visiting Tigers 56-45 to move to 1-1 on the season.
The start wasn't ideal, as the first quarter saw GW Women's trailing 12-6 and senior forward Caira Washington on the bench with two fouls. Princeton's zone defense clearly bothered the Colonials, holding GW to 13 percent shooting in the opening period. The shooting futility didn't last long. In a balanced attack and with Washington still sitting, GW started knocking down shots from everywhere. Forwards Kelli Prange (11 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assist) and Lexi Martins ( 8 points, 8 rebounds and a game high 3 blocks) sparked a 20 -9 run in the quarter to give the Colonials a 26-21 halftime lead. The third saw more of the same, as GW's led by the ferocious defense by Schaible, locked Princeton down defensively, only allowing 27 percent shooting in the period to put GW ahead 45-33. The Colonials wouldn't look back as they finished off the Tigers, earning their first victory of the season.
Tigers guard Jordan Muhammad was deadly from deep knocking down 4 out of 7 from 3-point range
"We are obviously happy to get our first win of the season," said head coach Jennifer Rizzotti. "It wasn't super pretty but we did a nice job of adjusting to the style of the game. We anticipated they would play a lot of zone, but it is always different when you see it for the first time and I thought our team adjusted, made some great passes and got some really good looks at the basket so it was nice to see those shots go down later in the game."
Washington posted 6 points and 4 rebounds in 18 minutes while senior guard Shannon Cranshaw added 8 points respectively. Princeton was led by sophomore guard Jordan Muhammad who finished with a game high 12 points (4-7 3-FG), senior guard Taylor Brown added 9 points and 3 rebounds while freshman forward/center Bella Alarie, a former local standout from National Cathedral School (Bethesda, Maryland), contributed 8 points and 5 rebounds.
GW will next host Coppin State Wednesday night at 7pm.
Junior forward Kelli Prange was a huge spark plug for the Colonials offensively scoring 11 points on 4-8 shooting from the field and 2-4 of from deep