No. 17 George Washington 82, Saint Louis 58

2/20/2008 8:13 PM

WASHINGTON (AP) -Kim Beck scored 23 points to lead No. 17 George Washington to an 82-58 win against Saint Louis on Wednesday night.

Sarah-Jo Lawrence added 19 points and Whitney Allen had a career-high 17 for George Washington (21-5, 9-2 Atlantic 10).

Theresa Lisch had 18 points, Amanda Kemezys 16 and Katie Paganelli 11 for Saint Louis (10-16, 5-6).

It was the Colonials' first game since a 63-60 upset at St. Bonaventure on Saturday. George Washington made sure there was no chance of another upset Wednesday, taking a commanding lead early and coasting to the win.

Beck was two points shy of her career high when she left the game for good with more than 3 minutes left. She and the rest of the Colonial starters enjoyed the final minutes of the rout from the bench.

Saint Louis led 12-10 with about 15 minutes left in the first half, but it would be the last time the Billikens would be close to the Colonials.

George Washington went on a 14-0 run over the next 4 minutes to grab control.

The Colonials pulled away even further, outscoring the Billikens 20-2 over the final 6 1/2 minutes of the first half and taking a 52-26 halftime lead.

The Colonials scored 25 points off 17 Saint Louis turnovers in the first half, nine of them steals.

After shooting 67 percent in the first half, George Washington cooled off after halftime, shooting 31 percent.

George Washington has won 12 straight games at home. The 82 points were the most for the Colonials in conference play this season.