Skylar Forbes Hits Six 3s, Scores 26 as No. 24 West Virginia Women Beat George Washington 78-66

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. Every time George Washington crept close enough to make Hope Coliseum nervous, Skylar Forbes stepped back and ended the conversation. The senior forward buried six 3-pointers, scored 26 points on 10-of-14 shooting, and carried No. 24 West Virginia past George Washington 78-66 on Thursday, Nov. 5.

The Mountaineers moved to 2-0. The Revolutionaries fell to 1-1 after a game that was tighter than the final margin suggests. GW cut the deficit to six midway through the fourth quarter and to seven with under three minutes left, and both times Forbes answered from deep.

Here is the official box score (opens in a new tab) and West Virginia's recap (opens in a new tab).

A slow start, then the press bites

For one quarter, this looked like a problem. George Washington showed no fear of the building. The Revolutionaries won the first quarter 16-14 and made West Virginia work for every look.

Then the Mountaineers did what Mountaineers teams do. The pressure ramped up, the passing lanes closed, and the turnovers started piling up for GW. West Virginia put together a 12-2 run in the second quarter, according to the AP's game story, and never trailed again. The Mountaineers scored 16 of their points off turnovers in that quarter alone, per the school's recap, and took a 37-31 lead to the locker room after winning the period 23-15.

That stretch was the whole game in miniature. GW was efficient when it got a shot up, shooting 47 percent from the field and 46 percent from 3 for the night. The problem was getting a shot up. The Revolutionaries turned it over 24 times, and West Virginia converted those mistakes into 31 points.

Forbes owns the fourth

The third quarter was a grind. West Virginia won it 22-19 and carried a 59-50 lead into the final 10 minutes, but GW never let the margin get comfortable. Alicia Newell kept attacking, Gabby Reynolds kept hunting her shot, and the gap shrank to six midway through the fourth.

That is when Forbes took over. With the lead under pressure, she drained a 3 to push it to 67-58. George Washington clawed back once more, getting within 72-65 with 2:48 to play. Forbes answered again with another 3, and that was the end of the threat. GW missed its last five shots over the final two minutes, and West Virginia closed it out.

Forbes finished 6 of 10 from beyond the arc, a career high for 3-pointers, and her 26 points matched the career best she set during her time at Marquette, according to the AP. She played 38 minutes, more than anyone on the floor, and added three rebounds and two blocks.

What makes Forbes so valuable in this system is that she spaces the floor from the forward spot. When defenders have to respect a 6-for-10 shooter at that position, the lane opens up for slashers like Zahirah Walton and for post work from Divine Tumba. Thursday was the blueprint.

The supporting cast did the dirty work

Walton was the steady hand. The guard scored 17 points on 6-of-9 shooting, went 5 of 7 from the free throw line, and filled the stat sheet with six rebounds, three assists, three steals and a block in 27 minutes. Walton attacked the basket all night, and West Virginia finished with 38 points in the paint, according to the school's recap.

Tumba gave the Mountaineers exactly what a bench big should. In 20 minutes, Tumba scored 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds, the most on the team. Walton and Tumba combined to shoot 13 of 19, which matters on a night when the rest of the roster went cold. Without Forbes, Walton and Tumba, West Virginia shot 4 of 26 from the field.

Gia Cooke had a tough shooting night two days after a career game against Rhode Island. Cooke went 2 of 10 for seven points, though Cooke still handed out four assists. Six turnovers and four fouls made it a night to forget.

Alexis Bordas was a quiet plus off the bench, scoring seven points with two assists and two steals in 17 minutes, and going 4 of 6 at the line. Khyala Ngodu chipped in four points, four rebounds and two steals in 13 minutes while picking up four fouls. Marya Hudgins did not score in 22 minutes but grabbed five rebounds and two steals, the kind of line that does not show up in highlights but helps explain how West Virginia finished with 12 steals as a team.

The rotation went 10 deep, and the defensive effort was spread across it. Six Mountaineers recorded a steal, and five of them had at least two.

Newell and Reynolds make GW dangerous

George Washington lost, but it is hard to watch this game and not come away thinking GW will be a problem in the Atlantic 10. Newell was the best interior player on the floor for long stretches, finishing with 19 points, 11 rebounds, three assists, four steals and two blocks in 31 minutes. Newell got to the line nine times and made seven, and the Mountaineers never found a way to keep Newell off the line.

Reynolds, one of two Revolutionaries named to the preseason All-Atlantic 10 team along with Sara Lewis, scored 18 points on 7-of-16 shooting, including 3 of 5 from 3. Lewis had five points and six rebounds while playing through four fouls. Kamari Sims added six points and three assists, and Anne Bair scored seven in 32 minutes.

The issue was the margin for error. GW committed 27 fouls, sent West Virginia to the line 26 times, and had four players finish with four fouls. Add the 24 turnovers, and GW handed a ranked team far too many free possessions. The fact that the Revolutionaries were still within seven with under three minutes left speaks well of their shot making.

The numbers that decided it

West Virginia shot 45.8 percent from the field (27 of 59), 38 percent from 3 (8 of 21) and only 62 percent at the free throw line (16 of 26). The Mountaineers also turned it over 20 times themselves, so this was not a clinic.

It did not need to be. West Virginia won the rebounding battle 38-30, piled up 12 steals to GW's seven, and turned the turnover margin into a 31-point scoring bonus. In a 12-point game, the math is simple. GW actually shot a better percentage from the field and from 3, and still lost by double digits.

The free throw shooting is the one thing Mountaineers fans will flag. Leaving 10 points at the line against a team that kept hanging around was what made the fourth quarter tense. Gia Cooke went 2 of 6, and Kennedy Harris went 2 of 4. Against Big 12 opposition, those misses become losses.

What it means for West Virginia

Two games in, the Mountaineers have found two different ways to win. In the opener, they needed a career night from Cooke to get past Rhode Island 68-64. On Thursday, it was Forbes. A team that can lean on a different scorer each night is hard to scout, and that kind of balance is what a ranked team needs over a long season.

The home formula continues to hold, too. According to West Virginia's recap, the Mountaineers have won seven straight games at Hope Coliseum, are 45-7 at home under head coach Mark Kellogg, and are 33-3 in nonconference regular season games over the last four seasons.

The schedule gets real fast. West Virginia plays its first road game at Georgia Tech on Sunday, Nov. 8, at McCamish Pavilion in Atlanta, with the game on ACCNX. Northwestern follows on Nov. 13 and Akron on Nov. 17, before a trip to the Battle 4 Atlantis in the Bahamas for games against Florida on Nov. 24 and Notre Dame on Nov. 26. That Thanksgiving week stretch is where this team will learn whether the turnover machine travels.

George Washington returns home to host Georgetown on Wednesday, Nov. 11, at the Smith Center. If the Revolutionaries take better care of the ball, they have the pieces for a big season.

Closing take

West Virginia did not play its best game on Thursday, and it still won by 12 against a good mid-major opponent. That is what a ranked team looks like in early November. The defense created enough extra possessions to cover a rough night at the line, and when the game tightened, Forbes made sure the margin never got below six. If the shooting from the forward spot is real, the Mountaineers have a matchup problem for every team on their schedule.

Sources: ESPN box score, West Virginia Athletics, AP, George Washington Athletics.

Photo: West Virginia Athletics.