Beck Gets GW's Offense Firing on All Cylinders

Colonials' McKeown Earns Career Win No. 498

George Washington's 76-54 pounding of Charlotte yesterday at Smith Center, an outcome that lifted the 20th-ranked Colonials into a first-place tie in the Atlantic 10 women's standings, was decided by a clinical run midway through the first half.

More specifically, it was decided by senior point guard Kimberly Beck.

In a four-minute stretch that turned a tight game into a runaway, Beck set up Jessica Adair for a layup and then assisted on Sarah-Jo Lawrence's baseline shot. She nailed a 17-footer and fired a pass into Adair for another easy basket. And after making a three-pointer from the top of the key, Beck stole the ball and started a transition that led to Jazmine Adair's jumper, providing a 20-point lead over an opponent that had arrived with a seven-game winning streak.

"She controls everything," 49ers Coach Karen Aston said. "There are a lot of point guards in the country that can do some things like that -- run a team, get them in the right places and lead, but some of those can't hit open threes, can't shoot off the dribble. She's a complete point guard."

Beck's 19 points, 11 assists (eight before halftime), 4 steals and 2 blocked shots, including one from behind on a breakaway, energized a GW team (16-4, 4-1) that had labored offensively for two weeks. Lawrence contributed 13 points, 10 rebounds and 5 assists for the Colonials, who shot 59 percent before the break and scored nearly as many points in the first half (49) as in the entire victory over La Salle on Wednesday (50).

"We knew we had to come send a message early," Lawrence said. "We didn't play so well in the first half against La Salle [20 points on 33 percent shooting] and we wanted to clean that up this time."

Watching his team surge to a 27-point lead in the first half against the 49ers (13-8, 4-1) "really eliminated some of the pain I have been feeling, some of the sluggishness we've played with," said Colonials Coach Joe McKeown, who earned his 498th career victory. "That was the best half of basketball we've played, I can't say all year, but in a long time -- just the crispness, how sharp we played, we moved the ball, and when you hit shots, the sky turns blue, the sun comes out."

Beck, GW's all-time assists leader, was the catalyst. Her all-around play during the decisive 18-3 run turned a 15-10 lead into a 33-13 advantage. Later in the half, she finished a fast-break layup for her fourth field goal in four tries and spotted Jessica Adair (14 points) for another layup as the lead continued to grow.

"I think it had a lot to do with the pace we were playing," said Beck, who shot 7 of 13 overall, 4 of 6 on three-pointers. "We pushed it back at them and that got our post [players] some easy baskets. We were just really patient and executed on offense, and that got us easier shots in the long run."

McKeown has stressed to Beck the importance of taking more initiative and attacking defenses before they get set. She responded yesterday before 1,684 spectators by anticipating teammates' moves and finding them in stride with model passes.

Beck was at it again during the first 3 1/2 minutes of the second half, registering two assists, a three-pointer and a three-point play to provide the biggest lead of the game, 61-30.

"What she has more than anybody I've coached in a long time, she just understands what you need at the time -- she has a great sense of the moment," McKeown said. "It's not something I could teach. It's just an inner confidence, an inner strength, an inner understanding of the game."

¿ VIRGINIA 69, FLORIDA STATE 66: Paulisha Kellum's three-pointer with 2 minutes 17 seconds left in overtime lifted the visiting Cavaliers.

Kellum's three gave Virginia (15-5, 4-1 ACC) a 69-65 lead; Florida State scored again but the Cavaliers held on to win. Kellum finished with nine points.

Virginia center Aisha Mohammed hauled down a career-high 21 rebounds to go with 18 points for her eighth double-double of the season. Cavaliers Lyndra Littles, Sharnee Zoll and Monica Wright all contributed 12 points apiece.

¿ WEST VIRGINIA 67, GEORGETOWN 35: In Morgantown, W. Va., LaQuita Owens scored 22 points and grabbed seven rebounds to lead the No. 12 Mountaineers.

West Virginia (16-3, 5-1 Big East) won despite the absence of Meg Bulger, who tweaked her surgically repaired left knee during the Mountaineers' win over Marshall on Wednesday.

Ashley Powell, Liz Repellea and Olayinka Sanni scored nine points apiece to help pace West Virginia.

The Mountaineers raced to a 40-20 lead in the first half on the strength of a 16-3 run midway through the period. West Virginia shot 60.7 percent in the half, while holding Georgetown (11-8, 1-5) to nine field goals and 32 percent from the floor.

Monica McNutt scored 13 to lead the Hoyas.

West Virginia's lead ballooned to 35 in the second half and Georgetown never threatened as the Hoyas shot just 30 percent from the field.

¿ AMERICAN 62, HOLY CROSS 46: Three Eagles scored in double figures to help American (8-12, 2-3 Patriot League) win in Worcester, Mass., for the first time in 16 years.

¿ MORGAN STATE 69, HOWARD 51: The visiting Bears used a 16-2 run during the first six minutes of the second half to deal the Bison (4-15, 1-4 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) their third straight loss. Morgan State improved to 10-8, 5-1.