Colonials Win, and Critique Themselves, Easily

In one regard, things couldn't have been all that bad last night at Smith Center, where No. 20 George Washington used a second-half surge to overwhelm La Salle, 50-32.

Yet even after the Colonials successfully bounced back from their first conference defeat in nearly two years, smothering the Explorers with a defense that allowed its fewest points in a conference game since 1992, the victory came with plenty of self-criticism.

While George Washington (15-4, 3-1 Atlantic 10) pulled away by embarking on a 14-0 run over the first six minutes of the second half, which the Colonials used to build a lead that ballooned to 20 points, the Colonials could hardly overlook an unsightly opening half that featured blown layups, missed defensive assignments and foolish fouls, an exhibition that fell in line with George Washington's recent fortunes.

After the game, a straight-faced Jessica Adair, who scored a game-high 14 points, summarized her team's dissatisfaction.

"We need to get in sync as a team and step up our defense," she said, even though the Colonials outrebounded La Salle and allowed just 27.9 percent shooting.

GW guard Kimberly Beck underscored her teammate's concern -- that the Colonials still have work to do to reach the level of play needed to make noise in the postseason. "There were little breakdowns tonight that didn't hurt us," she said. "But we know down the stretch they're going to hurt us."

After blowing out Brown by 76 points and knocking off ranked opponents in Texas A&M and Auburn, the Colonials have been mired in a mini-slump that Coach Joe McKeown attributed to a spate of nagging injuries that has kept GW from practicing at full strength.

"I'm running out of three-on-three drills that we can do," McKeown said.

That lack of preparation has been most visible during the Colonials' last four games, which included uneven efforts against Xavier and Rhode Island. And in one case, the Colonials paid the steepest price, taking a loss to conference rival Temple on Saturday.

McKeown hoped to erase the trend last night against the Explorers (9-10, 1-3), who entered the game without a victory against a ranked team in 15 years.

McKeown had hoped to set an up-tempo pace to start the game. Instead, La Salle stayed close by employing a slow-down approach that played to its favor. With little more than five minutes left in the first half, La Salle led by four points as the Colonials' offense struggled.

"I think in the first half, we played La Salle's pace," Beck said. "They slowed the ball down, they took a lot of time on the shot clock. That's what they do well."

The tactic worked until the second half, when GW turned up the pressure and the pace, leading to the decisive run. Holding forward Carlene Hightower, a first-team all-conference selection last season, to just 11 points also helped the cause. Still, a larger point was proven.

With conference rival Charlotte (undefeated in the Atlantic 10) coming to town on Saturday, the Colonials have work to do if they plan on capitalizing on their super-size postseason ambitions.

"We have a ways to go," said Beck, a senior point guard. "But I don't think it's out of reach."

-- ARMY 59, AMERICAN 49: Alex McGuire (Arundel High) scored a game-high 18 points to lead the Black Knights to the come-from-behind victory at Bender Arena.

The Eagles (7-12, 1-3 Patriot League) had a 34-24 lead in the opening minutes of the second half before Army started chipping away. Army improved to 12-7, 3-1.

American had a 43-29 rebounding advantage, but had only 11 second-chance points. Pam Stanfield led the Eagles with 12 points and added four rebounds and two assists.

-- HOLY CROSS 62, NAVY 51: The Crusaders (10-9, 3-1 Patriot) jumped to a quick 13-2 lead and never looked back in Annapolis. The Midshipmen (4-15, 0-4) missed eight of their first nine shots and had 15 first-half turnovers.

Cassie Considine led Navy with 11 points and five blocked shots.