By Mike Marzelli

Collegian Staff

Coming off arguably its worst performance of the season, it was difficult to know what to expect from the Massachusetts women’s basketball team prior to Thursday’s match-up with Atlantic 10 frontrunner George Washington. Would they come out with the same fire and intensity that saw them manhandle La Salle two Sundays ago? Or would they struggle mightily as they did in losing to St. Bonaventure?

For 40 minutes of play, the answer was most certainly the former, as the Minutewomen were able to compete step for step with the Atlantic 10’s best team. But whatever energy the Minutewomen possessed that allowed them to make a run down the stretch – enough to give senior co-captain Jennifer Butler a chance to win the game from the free throw line with .8 seconds left – seemingly ran out after Butler evened the score at 55-55 with just one of two free throws. The Colonials were able to control the overtime, recording the first six points, and outscored the Maroon and White 10-4 in the extra frame to defeat UMass 65-59.

“It was our game,” UMass Head Coach Marnie Dacko said. “Our kids came in came in and played their hearts out despite not having a point guard. We had our opportunity at the foul line and missed it. We came out flat in overtime. We made poor decisions both offensively and defensively and it cost us. I thought the momentum would be on our side in overtime, but it wasn’t. Missing that many free throws is unacceptable.”

GW entered the game coming off its first conference loss of the season, a four-overtime thriller that saw the Colonials fall on the road to Xavier 94-92. The Minutewomen, despite coming off the loss to the Bonnies, looked to be rejuvenated by the return of injured point guard Katie Nelson. However, the sophomore was still feeling the effects of the injury and played only three minutes.

GW was able to take advantage of some early sloppy play, forcing 11 turnovers and converting them into 10 points. They would sprint out to a 10-point lead in front of a spirited Smith Center crowd, holding a 22-12 edge with 11:15 remaining in the first half. The Maroon and White would slash into the lead with a 6-0 run late in the half, narrowing the gap to just three points with just under three minutes to go in the period. However, GW countered with a 7-0 run to close out the half and take a 33-23 lead into the break.

The Maroon and White would begin the second half as GW ended the first, connecting on three unanswered field goals to post a 7-0 run and pull back within three at 33-30. The teams would trade runs throughout the second half, with junior Judit Zsedenyi’s three pointer with 11:06 to go, cutting the lead to 41-40.

The Minutewomen would trade baskets with GW for the next two minutes, but then reeled off five straight points and tied the score at 50-50 on a three-pointer by senior reserve Amber Sneed at the 3:48 mark. After a Colonial miss, Butler gave the Minutewomen their first lead of the game with a basket that made it 52-50.

After GW reclaimed the edge on a three-pointer by Atlantic 10 Player of the Week Cathy Joens, the Maroon and White took it back when senior guard Ebony Pegues found classmate Nekole Smith for a driving hoop for two of her team-high 18 points.

George Washington’s Anna Mantanana missed a three-pointer and Marsheik Witherspoon threw the ball away on consecutive possessions, and UMass regained possession with 41 seconds remaining, nursing a one-point advantage. After Butler was called for traveling, GW had its own chance to take the lead with 19 seconds to go, and it was able to convert.

Star post player Ugo Oha took a feed from Greeba Outen Barlow and connected on a lay-up to give the Colonials a one-point edge with 10 seconds remaining. Pegues would advance the ball past half court and call timeout with four seconds to go, which set up an opportunity for heroics from Butler.

But the senior’s first free throw found only iron, setting up a do-or-die situation for the co-captain. Butler was able to sink the pressure packed free throw, one of her 14 points to go along with 14 rebounds, but it was the Maroon and White’s last gasp.

The Minutewomen must now rebound and avoid falling victim to the same fate they were faced with last weekend. With A-10 West foe Richmond arriving in Amherst to battle the Minutewomen Sunday at 2 p.m., Dacko hopes her team will not look past the Spiders – as it seemingly did to the Bonnies last weekend – with crucial games against A-10 east foes St. Joseph’s and Temple on the docket for next week.

While Richmond is only 6-5 in conference, the Spiders are 15-7 overall and Dacko knows that they are well coached and will come ready to play.

“Richmond is a team that has a lot of young players,” Dacko said. “Kate Flavin is doing a great job for them, and Joanne Boyle’s doing a nice job coaching them. Again, they have a lot of young players and a lot of players who play without fear. They run, and they score a lot of points.”

Dacko also sees some similarities between her squad and the Spiders. She hopes, however, that the comfort of being at home after a week’s hiatus from Amherst will put the Minutewomen over the edge against Richmond and back on track in the A-10.

“They’re like us, they’re not doing too well from the foul line, but they’ve got an inside-outside game,” Dacko said. “The fortunate thing for us is that we’re playing at the Mullins Center, and hopefully that will be an advantage.”

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