A Mismatch From the Start

Colonials Tied for Atlantic 10 Title; Fordham Sets Mark for Losses With 29th: GW 66, Fordham 27

Balls bounced off and around the rim. Other shots missed completely. Very few slithered through the net. Neither George Washington nor Fordham had much success putting the ball into the basket yesterday at Smith Center. But while the No. 15-ranked Colonials had merely a cold-shooting game, the Rams were positively arctic.

In its 66-27 victory before 1,804 fans, GW (24-5, 12-2) held Fordham to the lowest scoring output in its NCAA history and allowed the fewest points by an Atlantic 10 Conference opponent in school history.

With the loss, the Rams (0-29, 0-14), who have lost 33 consecutive games overall, set the Division I women's record for losses in a season.

GW earned a share of its seventh consecutive Atlantic 10 regular season championship, but the Colonials will not be the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament that begins Friday at Saint Joseph's Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. Temple, which finished tied atop the standings with GW, gets that honor since the Owls beat the Colonials earlier this season.

"We've had some hiccups along the way," GW Coach Joe McKeown said. "To be sitting here 24-5, to finish tied for first in your league and to be ranked in the top 20, I mean, that's a great year."

In their final home game, the seniors, who went 54-5 at Smith Center during their careers, turned in an uneven performance. Senior Whitney Allen had her second consecutive double-double and fourth of the season, scoring 12 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. But senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence, the only Colonial to play in every game this season, sat out eight minutes of the first half because of foul trouble. Lawrence, who had three first-half fouls, played just 19 minutes and had four points, more than nine points below her season average.

"We were a little sloppy, but we eventually got it done, and that's what it's about," said senior Kim Beck, who had 13 points. "It's a hard game to play in. Fordham, they'd run at you at times, they'd slow it down at times. We really couldn't get our pace going."

The outcome of this game was never in doubt. Fordham, which has just three players with more than one season of experience on its roster, went scoreless for nearly 11 minutes in the first half. Two players accounted for all the Rams' scoring before halftime, four first-half field goals. Freshman Megan Mahoney, who had eight points at halftime, finished with 15 points to lead Fordham, which shot 23 percent for the game.

GW was mildly better, making 37 percent of its shots. The Colonials scored 26 points off the Rams's 25 turnovers, and led by Jazmine Adair, their reserves contributed significantly to the win. Adair finished with 15 points and 12 rebounds, helping GW outrebound Fordham, 49-32. She played just 18 minutes.

"We had some senior moments," McKeown said. "There was probably a lot of emotion to the day."

¿ GEORGETOWN 59, PROVIDENCE 52: Kieraah Marlow scored six of Georgetown's final eight points on the Hoyas' Senior Day to help them qualify for the Big East tournament for the first time since 2005.

The Friars rallied from nine down midway through the second half to take a 52-51 lead with 6 minutes 36 seconds left, and that stood until Marlow's layup gave the Hoyas the lead for good with 3:00 left.

Meredith Cox added 12 points, all on three-pointers, for Georgetown (15-13, 5-10), which was picked to finish last in the 16-team conference in the preseason coaches poll, one spot behind the Friars (12-16, 2-13).

¿ AMERICAN 60, LAFAYETTE 57: Stephanie N'Garsanet scored 17 points as the Eagles (17-12, 11-3) clinched their first Patriot League championship with an overtime victory against the Leopards (14-15, 6-8).

The win, American's 10th straight and seventh in a row on the road, locked up the top seed in the conference tournament, which begins Saturday at Army against Colgate.

N'Garsanet hit two free throws with less than a minute remaining to tie the game at 50 in regulation and Michelle Kirk added a key steal.

¿ NAVY 56, COLGATE 54: In Annapolis, Cassie Consedine had 10 points and 10 rebounds, Emily Cordle had 13 points and the Midshipmen outlasted the Red Raiders despite shooting 31 percent.

Cordle's three-pointer with 1:25 left gave Navy (7-22, 3-11 Patriot League) a 52-51 lead it did not relinquish. Colgate finished the regular season 1-28, 0-14.

¿ NORTH CAROLINA A&T 84, HOWARD 71: The Aggies defeated the Lady Bison in Washington to clinch the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference regular season title.

Asha Santee scored 20 of her career-high 28 points in the second half for Howard (3-24, 2-12).