The women’s varsity basketball team lost to Bullis, 83–31, in the first round of the Independent School League (ISL) AA playoffs on Thursday, Feb. 20.
Bullis was seeded first in the ISL AA tournament. They are ranked as the second-best team in the DC metropolitan area and are ranked 18th nationally. The ISL AA division is the higher of the league’s two divisions and includes Sidwell, Potomac and Maret, all of which are ranked in the Washington Post’s top twenty. GDS was promoted to the AA division after winning the lower A division last season.
Bullis won the tipoff and started the game with a layup. Freshman Raech McKnight then drove through traffic, earning a foul and making both of her free-throws. Bullis answered with a free-throw before freshman Jozi McDuffie made a layup through contact to cut Bullis’s lead down to one. Bullis then called a timeout.
Following the timeout, Bullis made two three-pointers to extend their lead to seven. McDuffie closed the gap with another layup, but Bullis dominated the scoring with three-pointers, layups and transition baskets. Freshman Liya Fairfax and senior Kesi McDuffie converted a layup each to cut the deficit, while Jozi McDuffie continued to cause problems for the opposing defense with her speed and tenacity, eventually scoring the final basket of the quarter by converting a layup after getting a tough offensive rebound. The quarter ended with Bullis ahead, 27–12.
The second quarter featured strong defensive play, including multiple steals for both teams. After trading possession multiple times, McDuffie recorded a layup to open the scoring for the quarter. Bullis made the next two shots and continued to play strong defense as the team extended their lead. The two teams continued to trade possession until a Bullis player was fouled and scored a free-throw. Following a GDS timeout, Bullis scored the next four baskets, but, to maintain their momentum on offense, they took shortcuts on defense, often resorting to fouls to shut down GDS’s attack. GDS struggled to turn their fouls into baskets until senior Evelyn Chen drew a foul and made both free-throws. GDS ended the quarter down 49–18.
Coming into the second half, GDS was relentless, recording several rebounds, which allowed Chen to score the first basket of the quarter. Bullis scored the next two baskets to extend their lead. Chen responded by drawing a foul and scored both of her free-throws, then made several standout defensive plays that served as the catalyst for GDS’ promising attacks in transition. Her hustle inside the paint ultimately led to GDS’ next basket, as she grabbed a rebound and passed the ball back to Jozi McDuffie, who made a three. GDS continued to create promising chances with their play in transition, rebounding and strong defense, but Bullis, after calling a timeout, made four straight baskets to extend their lead to 65–27 as the quarter came to a close.
GDS opened the final quarter with the same energy as the last, drawing fouls and creating more clean looks early in the quarter. Fairfax converted two free-throws before Bullis responded with a three-pointer. Chen drew another foul and scored one of her free-throws, which was followed by a forced turnover and layup by McDuffie. Bullis’ strong perimeter shooting and blocks helped add 13 points to their lead. Despite putting together some promising last-minute looks, GDS lost the quarterfinal game, 83–31.
Head coach Pam Stanfield expressed pride in the group for their perseverance. “The team [Bullis] is ranked in the nation. That’s actually a good bump for us, a good opportunity for us to play hard and see what we can execute,” she said. “I think the girls did the best they could and, after this day, it’s just all about not giving up.”
“We really fought our butts off,” Fairfax said. “I think we had our good moments, but we need the whole entire game to be like us fighting to the ball, getting rebounds, boxing out, attacking.”
“I think we came out pretty strong the first four minutes of the first quarter,” Kesi McDuffie said. “We just need to play stronger through all the games.”
Freshman Lindsay Fuzesi said she was pleased with GDS’ performance. “It’s hard to play a team that is so accomplished,” she said. “I feel like we tried our best.”
GDS now looks ahead to the District of Columbia State Athletic Association (DCSAA) tournament, which they won last season in the lower division. Though the team was promoted to the upper division after their win in 2024, they will play in the lower division tournament this year. Stanfield expressed optimism about how GDS will perform in the tournament. “We used this game to prep us for DC States and, honestly, it’s all about the energy and chemistry of the girls,” she said. “We had two straight great practices and I think the girls are ready to go.”
GDS will travel to Dunbar for the first round of the DCSAA tournament on Feb. 24.