GW Women's Hoops Drops Non-Conference Finale at North Carolina A&T, 67-56

GREENSBORO, North Carolina  -- Seniors Shi-Heria Shipp and Megan Nipe combined for 31 points, but the George Washington women's basketball team dropped its non-conference finale, 67-56, to North Carolina A&T at the Aggies' Corbett Sports Center on Sunday evening.

A North Carolina native, Shipp scored a career-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting in her homecoming, while Nipe tallied a season-best 15 points and added five rebounds. Senior Danni Jackson added eight points and six assists.

The Aggies (9-5) scored the first six points of the game, but GW (6-8) responded with seven straight, including five by Nipe, to take a 7-6 lead. The next eight minutes saw four ties and six lead changes, as neither team led by more than two points until a pair of free throws by Shipp gave the Colonials a 20-16 advantage with 5:26 left in the half.

GW, however, managed just one free throw the rest of the period, as A&T ended the half on a 10-1 run to take a 26-21 lead at the break.

The Aggies stretched their lead to seven points out of the intermission, but a layup by Jackson and a three-pointer by graduate student Tara Booker brought the Colonials within four at 30-26. The teams alternated baskets for five minutes until another triple by Nipe made it a two-point game, 37-35, with 11:46 to go.

That was as close as they would get, however, as A&T began to pull away with a series of free throws, then a three-pointer by Adriana Nazario gave the Aggies a double-digit lead, 48-38, with 7:45 left. GW appeared to regain some momentum after Shipp made a pair of foul shots and Booker drained a jumper to pull within seven, but Nazario responded with another triple on the Aggies' next possession.

A&T took a game-high 14-point lead three times in the final three minutes, but did not make a field goal after Tracy King's layup at the 2:24 mark. Instead, the Aggies sank six of eight free throws to seal the victory.

Nazario led A&T with 14 points, while King and Eboni Ross each scored 11. King added a game-high nine rebounds, as the Aggies outrebounded the Colonials, 35-25. GW shot nearly 44 percent from the floor in the game, including 46 percent in the second half, but A&T connected on nearly 48 percent of its attempts in the game. The Colonials return to action on Saturday, when they open Atlantic 10 play at Massachusetts.

COURTESY THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS