No. 12 George Washington 77, Fordham 51

1/12/2007 8:24 PM

By DOUG FEINBERG
AP Sports Writer

NEW YORK (AP) -George Washington coach Joe McKeown focuses on his team's defense.

The 12th-ranked Colonials made their coach proud, holding Fordham scoreless for more than 10 minutes in the first half en route to a 77-51 victory Friday night.

``When we get going defensively we're one of the better teams in the country,'' McKeown said. ``Our goal is to keep people under 50 points.''

Jessica Adair scored 19 points and Kenan Cole added 12 to lead the Colonials.

``I've been in a slump the last few games and this was my breakout night,'' Adair said.

The Colonials (13-2, 2-0 Atlantic 10) won their sixth straight game and were too much for the Rams (2-14, 0-2). The victory helped George Washington match the second-best start in program history. The 1990-91 team also opened 13-2.

With a win Sunday against Massachusetts, the Colonials would equal the start of the 1999-00 team, which won 14 of its first 16 games.

The victory left coach Joe McKeown one shy of 400 with the Colonials.

``It's just a number,'' McKeown said. ``I've been there a long time. You can tell by my gray hair.''

George Washington raced to a 21-8 lead, then held Fordham scoreless over the next 10:16 to take a 44-8 advantage. Fordham finally broke the drought on LaToya Chalmers' layup with 2:34 left in the half. The Rams found themselves down 46-10 at the break.

Cole hit a career-high four 3-pointers in the first half as the Colonials shot 59 percent (19-for-32) from the field. It was George Washington's highest first-half scoring output of the season.

The Colonials held Fordham to just 3-for-21 (14.3 percent) shooting from the floor and forced 14 turnovers.

``They are the 12th-ranked team in the country for a reason,'' Fordham coach Cathy Andruzzi said. ``They are an outstanding shooting team. We had a difficult time matching up to them.''

Sarah-Jo Lawrence added 11 points and six assists for the Colonials, who saw their lead grow to as many as 44 points in the second half. They have played just two games in their last 14 days.

Lisa Carrol scored 18 of her 22 points in the second half to lead the Rams, who have dropped eight straight games.

It was the highest ranked opponent that Fordham has hosted at Rose Hill since the Rams played No. 5 Stanford in 2001-02. George Washington improved to 13-0 against Fordham.