The Tribune

WITH Grand Bahamian senior Jonquel Jones still out with an injury, juniors Hannah Schaible and Caira Washington each registered double-doubles to lead the George Washington women’s basketball team to a 73-66 victory over Revolutionary Rival and Atlantic 10 foe George Mason on Saturday afternoon in the regular-season finale at EagleBank Arena.

GW finishes the regular season 23-6 overall and 13-3 in A-10 play and clinches no lower than the No. 2 seed in next weekend’s Atlantic 10 Championship. The Colonials will win a share of their second straight A-10 title with a Duquesne loss at St. Bonaventure on Sunday. The tournament bracket will be announced after all games are completed Sunday evening.

Washington scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the season, while Schaible tallied 16 points, 11 boards, seven assists and three steals. Sophomore Kelli Prange was the third Colonial in double figures with 11 points, and freshman Mei-Lyn Bautista dished out a career-high nine assists.

A back-and-forth opening quarter included five ties, and the game was knotted at 16-16 after 10 minutes, but the Colonials pulled away with a dominant second in which they outscored the Patriots, 24-5, and held Mason to just one field goal while shooting 69.2 percent (9-13) from the floor. GW led, 40-21, at the break.

Mason (11-18, 6-10 A-10) began to rally with a 12-2 run to cut it to eight, 46-38, midway through the third period, but GW responded with 11 straight points to regain a 19-point lead with 1:55 remaining in the frame.

The Patriots got hot from long distance in the fourth quarter, sinking 6-of-9 three-point attempts, including five by Taylor Brown, to make it a five-point game, 71-66, with 21 seconds to go, but grad student Lauren Chase knocked down a pair of free throws to seal the win for the Colonials.

GW outrebounded Mason, 41-32, to win the battle of the boards for the 27th time in 29 games this season. The Colonials also held a 27-7 advantage in points off turnovers.

Brown led the Patriots with 20 points, while Kristi Mokube tallied 10 points and nine rebounds and Kara Wright had 10 points and seven assists.

With the win, GW claims another point in the year-long Revolutionary Rivalry to improve to 9-2 in 2015-16.