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 Junior Antelia Parrish hit a trio of three-pointers and finished with 13 points in GW's 63-59 loss to Xavier in Sunday's A-10 Semifinal. |
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No. 13/12 GW Ousted from A-10 Semis by Xavier, 63-59
March 9, 2008
PHILADELPHIA, PA - No. 13/12 George Washington shook off foul trouble to frontcourt duo Jessica and Jazmine Adair to erase a six-point second half deficit, but Xavier converted a late three-point play and held on for a 63-59 upset over the Colonials in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 Championship Sunday.
GW frontcourt twins Jessica and Jazmine Adair both picked up their fourth fouls before the under 16 media timeout in the second half and Xavier's post duo of Ta'Shia Phillips and Amber Harris took control. They combined for 12 points in an 18-4 run to pull ahead 46-40.
The Colonials chipped away at the deficit as Lisa Steele knocked down a transition three-pointer to pull GW within a point, 48-47, with 5:36 to play. Harris picked her fourth foul on Xavier's next possession and Jessica Adair converted both ends on the 1-and-1 free throws to put the Colonials in front, 49-48, for the final time.
Xavier scored on its next two possessions to go up three, but junior Antelia Parrish hit her third three-pointer of the game to knot the score at 52-52 with 2:24 left. Harris and Jessica Adair traded baskets to remain tied when XU's Tudy Reed drew a blocking call on senior Kimberly Beck, made the driving layup and converted the free throw to put the Musketeers ahead to stay.
Parrish hit a short baseline jumper with less than a minute to play, but Special Jennings banked in a runner with 23 seconds remaining for a 59-56 lead. XU hit four free throws in the final seconds to clinch its return to the title game after winning the league championship in 2007.
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Parrish hit three three-pointers and finished with a team-high 13 points. Senior Whitney Allen had 10 points and 12 rebounds for her third double-double in four games. Despite playing just 20 minutes due to foul trouble, Jessica Adair reached double figures with 10 points.
Beck, who had seven assists to bring her program-record total to 702 for her career, and senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence chipped in eight points apiece.
Phillips finished with a game-high 22 points, followed by 15 from Harris. Xavier (23-8) will face Temple in the championship game Monday at 5:00 pm.
Parrish had the hot hand early with a pair of three-pointers and a jumper as GW jumped on top 10-5 just over four minutes in. Xavier answered with seven straight points over the next two minutes to take its first lead, 12-10.
The two teams' battled through five ties and three more lead changes the rest of the half, but the Colonials closed on a 10-4 run to lead 30-24 at the break.
GW (25-6) awaits seeding for the 2008 NCAA Tournament, which begins at first and second round sites on Saturday, March 22. The NCAA Women's Selection Show will air Monday, March 17, at 7:00 pm on ESPN.