Hannah's storm helps George Washington pound struggling Explorers

Washington, D.C. -- George Washington came into Wednesday night's game against La Salle riding an eight-game win streak and undefeated in conference play. Led by national player of the year candidate senior Jonquel Jones, GW seemed poised from the start of the game to get a victory against the 3-13 Explorers.  Victory is just what they got as they walked away with an 83-59 blowout win.

GW was led in scoring by junior Hannah Schaible with 14 points. Jones added 13 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks.

The Colonials started off the game strong with a 6-0 lead. Despite jumping out front quickly, La Salle cut GW's lead to one with just a minute remaining in the first quarter. A three-pointer by Bautista would must that lead back out to four and two free throws in the final seconds for Jones would further that lead to six going into the second quarter.

"We just had to turn around and play our game," Schaible said. "We kind of got stuck not doing that and that was the main thing. If we play our game, we work really well as a team and work well together. So just playing our game is the biggest thing."

The close game didn't seem to sit well with GW as they jumped out to an 11-0 run in the second quarter and took a 27-10 lead. The Colonials would double the Explorers in scoring during the second quarter, led by a balanced offensive attack. Senior DaLacy Anderson chipped in eight points and juniors Caira Washington and Hannah Schaible each added six in the critical second quarter.

Despite only having four points in the first half, Jones remained a defensive presence and recorded three blocks and seven rebounds. Just like that, after a first quarter that was widely contested the Colonials, went into the locker room with a 20-point lead, 43-23.

"When something's not going well for you, you always want to try to find another way to get into the game and just get into the flow of the game," Jones said "So blocking shots was definitely up there, just playing good sound defense and making sure that I was contributing in some way."

"I think Jonquel has that sense of urgency as a senior in that she doesn't take one end down to the other end and let it bother her," head coach Jonathan Tsipis said.

To start the second half, GW's fast break offense continued to be too much for La Salle to handle as they opened up the lead by more than thirty points. Jones came to life offensively during the third quarter and entered the fourth quarter with a double-double behind 11 points and 11 boards.

La Salle started the fourth quarter on a 10-6 run, but the deficit proved too much for the Explorers to overcome during the final quarter, and GW walked away with the win. They face Duquesne this Sunday in Atlantic 10 conference play.