No. 8 George Washington 64, Saint Louis 47

2/18/2007 4:31 PM

ST. LOUIS (AP) -Kimberly Beck can't wait to get home.

Beck and Sarah-Jo Lawrence scored 16 points apiece and No. 8 George Washington overcame a poor shooting effort to defeat Saint Louis 64-47 Sunday.

It was the Colonials' second game in four days - they won 64-59 at Charlotte on Thursday - and came with senior leader Kenan Cole limited to seven points.

``We came out flat, lack of energy,'' Beck said. ``But we picked it up in the second half.''

The Colonials (23-2, 12-0 Atlantic 10) used a 10-1 run midway through the period to distance themselves. Saint Louis had pulled to within six on five occasions in the first 9 minutes of the half, but George Washington didn't surrender a field-goal for an 8-minute stretch.

Jessica Adair added 11 points and 10 rebounds - nine in the second half - for the Colonials.

It was the Colonials' 16th consecutive victory. Their last loss was on Dec. 7 at then-No. 6 Tennessee.

Saint Louis (11-15, 3-8) joined the Atlantic 10 last season and this marked the first time George Washington has made the Charlotte-Saint Louis road swing. While giving Saint Louis some of the credit for his team's sluggish performance, coach Joe McKeown acknowledged his team had enough of the road.

``It really makes it a long week,'' he said.

While the final score was just four points off the team's average, the Colonials struggled from the field. They entered the game shooting 44.1 percent in league play and managed just 35 percent against the Billikens.

George Washington also overcame Cole's sprained left ankle, which forced her to leave in the first half against Charlotte and nearly kept her out of the Saint Louis game.

McKeown said she played just well enough in practice to earn her usual spot in the starting lineup. She sank a 3-pointer to start the game and finished 2-for-6 from the field with seven points, five below her average. She also struggled on defense.

Poor shooting prevented George Washington from taking advantage of Saint Louis' 19 first-half turnovers. The Colonials sank 31 percent of their shots - matching their worst mark for an opening half this season - but used an 8-2 spurt to take a 27-18 lead at the break.

``We have droughts and that's our biggest Achilles right now,'' McKeown said. ``I don't worry too much about our defense. We have to execute better offensively.''

George Washington used another strong defensive effort to limit the Billikens to their lowest scoring output this season. The Colonials have surrendered an average of 49.7 points in their past 15 games and came into the contest ranked 16th nationally in points allowed.

Saint Louis, led by Theresa Lisch's 14 points, finished with 29 turnovers. It marked the most the Billikens have given up and the most the Colonials have forced this season. All the miscues did not translate into points for George Washington, however. It scored just 18 points off Saint Louis mistakes.

``We didn't convert well in transition, like we usually do,'' Lawrence said.