By Leigh Dethman
The road has been tough for the women”s basketball team. The Cougars dropped their second straight road game, an 82-58 loss to No. 21 George Washington University.
The Colonials” posts dominated the Cougars, outscoring BYU 38-22 in the paint.
This was the second straight game that BYU”s opponent took advantage of the Cougar”s weak post defense. In the Dec. 7 loss to Oregon, the Ducks outscored BYU 24-6 in the paint.
George Washington”s junior center Ugo Oha scored 25 points and senior forward Erica Lawrence chipped in a season high 17 points and had 12 rebounds.
“We took their three-point shot away, but we did not defend their inside game at all,” coach Jeff Judkins said. “We challenged our post players to step it up tonight, and it didn”t happen. It is probably our worst team defense of the year.”
Oha scored 16 of her points in the first half to help the Colonials open an 11-point lead. BYU closed within two points on senior guard Erin Thorn”s three-pointer.
Senior forward Jennifer Leitner did not make the trip to George Washington because of an ear infection. Freshman forward Ambrosia Anderson started in Leitner”s place.
BYU shot a poor 36.2 percent from the field overall. The bad shooting extended to the free-throw line, where the Cougars hit only 69.2 percent of their shots.
The Cougars made only three field goals in the last six minutes of the game.
Thorn was the lone bright spot for the Cougars. The All-American scored 22 points, including 5-of-11 from three-point land. Thorn ended the night shooting 50 percent from the field.
Sophomore forward Danielle Cheesman had her third double-double of her career with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Along with Oha and Lawrence”s combined 42 points, senior guard Cathy Joens scored 17 points for the Colonials.
Senior center Lisa Hansen, who began the night guarding Oha, went to the bench with four fouls less than two minutes into the second half.
George Washington capitalized on BYU”s 15 turnovers, scoring 25 points. The Colonials out rebounded BYU 40-31.
The 24-point loss was the largest defeat the Cougars have suffered this season. The loss drops BYU”s record to 5-2 on the year while George Washington improves to 4-1.
The Cougars have a chance to get a much-needed road win Saturday, when BYU faces North Carolina State.
They will travel to North Carolina for a first-time meeting against the Wolfpack on Saturday, Dec. 14.
