Dec. 19, 2008
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- DeWanna Bonner posted her third double-double of the season with season-highs of 30 points and 16 rebounds as the No. 10 Auburn women's basketball team (11-0) held off George Washington (5-4) for a 65-51 win Friday night in Washington, D.C.
The Tigers led by as many as 19 points in the game and were up by 14 with less than 10 minutes left in the game, but George Washington put together a 13-2 run to cut the lead to three with 4:46 remaining, threatening to keep Auburn from its 11th win of the season.
Auburn re-grouped from that point and kept the Colonials scoreless for the rest of the game, scoring 11 points to close out the game with the 65-51 win. Nine of Auburn's final 11 points came at the free-throw line with Bonner going a perfect 6-of-6 down that stretch.
"I'm really happy to come away with a win against a team like George Washington, on the road, after the break," said Auburn head coach Nell Fortner on the team's first game since playing Liberty on Dec. 7. "We have never beaten George Washington, here or at our place, so it was a big game for us and I am proud of how the team responded to their strong run in the second half and got the win."
The meeting between the Tigers and Colonials was the third in the 2008 calendar year and the fourth all-time. GW now holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series.
Fortner said some defensive miscues allowed George Washington to make a late run at Auburn after trailing by double digits throughout most of the game.
"It comes down to a few defensive mistakes that turn the tide of the game and you can lose a lead so quick," said Fortner. "But, I have to give our team a lot of credit. They are a veteran team and their veteranship showed up tonight. They never lost their confidence, knew exactly what they needed to do and went out and did it."
As for Bonner's performance, statistically her best so far this season, Fortner said it is just a quality of a great player.
"DeWanna Bonner was a huge leader tonight," said Fortner. "Great players make the big plays when big plays need to be made. She is so versatile, she knows what needs to be done and she does her best to get in there and get it done, and she did that tonight."
Also getting it done was Auburn's defensive, picking up 15 steals while forcing 24 Colonial turnovers. Senior point guard Whitney Boddie, who finished second on the team with 14 points, tallied four steals on the night. Sherell Hobbs also picked up four steals in the game while Bonner added three.
The Tigers also held George Washington to 30.6 percent (19-of-62) from the field in the game. Having trouble getting the ball to Jessica Adair and Antelia Parrish in the post, the Colonials relied on three-point shooting, going 6-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Parrish led GW with 13 points while Jessica Adair added 11 points and eight rebounds. Her sister, Jazmine Adair, rounded out the double-digit scorers with 10 points while picking up a team-best nine rebounds.
Also finishing in double-digits for the Tigers was senior Trevesha Jackson as she tallied 10 points, six rebounds and two steals on the night.
As a team, Auburn shot 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field, but came up huge at the free-throw line, knocking down 21 of their 30 attempts for a 70 percent effort.
Leading Auburn at the charity stripe was Bonner, who hit 10 of her 13 attempts. With her total, Bonner now has 445 career free throws made, giving her the Auburn record in the category. She passed previous record-holder Carolyn Jones, who finished her Auburn career with 438 made free throws.
Also moving into a career list was Hobbs who's six rebounds giver her exactly 500 on her career, ranking her 20th all-time at Auburn. Hobbs is now the 17th player all-time at Auburn to record 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in their career.
In the first half, Auburn stormed out of the gate building a double-digit lead by the 15:02 mark while holding George Washington to single digits until the 7:35 point in the first half. The Tigers led by as many as 19 points in the first half and took an 11-point, 35-24, lead into the locker room.
Bonner led Auburn with 17 first-half points and five rebounds. Boddie added four points, four assists and four steals in the opening period. Tiana Myers and Jazmine Adair had six points each for GW while Jessica Adair added seven rebounds.
The Tigers return to action at 1 p.m., Sunday at Coppin State (0-8) in Baltimore, Md. The game will be the home-opener for the Eagles in the Coppin Center. Fans can listen to the game live on WMXA 96.7 FM in Auburn and on AuburnTigers.com.