Jan. 15, 2006

Box Score

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Junior guard Suntana Granderson scored 21 points and senior forward Tara Boothe scored her 2,000th career point but it was not enough as the Xavier University women's basketball team dropped a 64-58 decision at George Washington on Sunday at the Smith Center. With the loss, XU drops to 11-5 on the year and 2-3 in the Atlantic 10 while GW improves to 11-4 overall, 4-0 in the loop.

Boothe scored 13 points on the afternoon with her last two coming on a fade away with 1:26 to go. That bucket marked Boothe's 2,000th point of her career and she now stands 37 points shy of breaking XU's all-time scoring mark of 2,036 points.

Granderson's 21 came along with a season-high seven rebounds. Joining Boothe and Granderson in double-figures were Miranda Green (13) and Candyce Bingham (12). Bingham's 12 marked a career high and she scored seven consecutive points for XU during the second half.

Xavier trailed 31-25 at the break but sprinted out to a 9-0 run and took a 42-40 lead with 10:20 to go when Green converted on a pair of free-throws.

The game would feature four more ties and three more lead changes with the last coming at 6:10. GW's Sarah-Jo Lawrence converted on a lay-up to give the Colonials a 51-50 lead they would not relinquish.

GW led by six points at the three-minute mark, but XU would shrink the lead to two points on a Granderson driving lay-up with 1:10 remaining. However, Whitney Allen effectively put the game away with 34-seconds remaining when she converted on a put-back to give the Colonials a 62-58 lead.

Xavier shot a frigid 31.3 percent from the floor and was just 4-of-21 from deep on the afternoon. XU forced GW into 21 turnovers but committed 16 miscues on Sunday.

XU took its only lead of the first half when Granderson drilled a jumper with 14:50 to go, making the score 7-6. GW reclaimed the lead 1:40 later and extended its advantage to eight points, 22-14, at the 5:50 mark.

XU would battle back and pulled to within two points, 22-20, when junior center Deanna Mason converted on consecutive put-backs with the last coming at the 4:10 mark.

GW would heat up though and charged out to a 9-0 run over the next 2:20 to take a 31-20 lead with 2:50 to go. The GW run was capped with an old-fashioned 3-point play by Corinne Turner. Xavier would answer with a gutsy 5-0 spurt to end the half down 31-25.

Xavier will return to action on Thursday, January 19 when the Musketeers travel up I-75 to take on the Flyers. Game time is set for 7:00 p.m. at UD Arena.