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 Ugo Oha needs just one block to tie Tajama Abraham on GW's all-time blocked shots list. |
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Women's Basketball Preview: GW at Richmond (2-8-04)
Feb. 7, 2004
Game at a Glance
Date: Sunday, February 8, 2004
Time: 2:00 p.m. EST
Arena (Capacity): Robins Center (9,171)
Place: Richmond, VA
George Washington (Streak): 15-5, 8-1 (Won 7)
Road Record: 6-1
Last Game: Won 73-45 vs. Fordham, 2/6/04
Richmond (Streak): 13-7, 5-4 (Lost 3)
Home Record: 7-0
Last Game: Lost 58-48 at Saint Joseph's, 2/1/04
Series: GW leads 7-1
Last Meeting: GW won 86-60 in Washington, DC, 1/10/04
Broadcast: Internet Radio: www.gwradio.com with Sean Rose and Anthony Moniello
Coming Up: GW hosts the first of two games versus the Ohio schools when they play Xavier on Friday, February 13 at 7:00 p.m.
Quick Notes
This evening's game is a match-up of teams going in different directions. George Washington will look to extend their seven-game winning streak, while Richmond will try and break a three-game losing streak. The Colonials are blazing through Atlantic 10 play and lead the conference in 10 different categories. Richmond, on the other hand, got off to a great start this season, but their recent three-game road swing versus the Philadelphia schools has the Spiders scratching their heads, with all eight legs.
Richmond has done a nice job scoring the basketball all season, but the Colonials were able to hold them to 60 points in their first match-up, including only 14 at the half. The Colonials have been outstanding of late on the defensive end and are holding teams to just over 37 percent shooting from the field. Conversely, Richmond is allowing teams to shoot 42 percent from the field, and with GW shooting over 50 percent in five of their last six games, it appears as if the Colonials should be able to continue their torrid scoring pace.
Last time out, GW dominated Fordham on their way to a 73-45 victory on Friday, February 6. The Colonials were led by Marsheik Witherspoon, who recorded the first double-double of her career with 10 points and 10 assists. Cathy Joens and Ugo Oha each scored 19 points and Oha moved herself within two blocks of becoming the all-time leader in blocked shots, tallying three on the night.
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Richmond dropped their third game in a row in Philadelphia with a 58-48 loss at the hands of Saint Joseph's on February 1. Kate Flavin continued to lead the Spiders with 23 points versus the Hawks, but Richmond only managed to shoot 32 percent from the field and were outrebounded by SJU, 48-34.
Probable Starters
George Washington
Cathy Joens, G, 19.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 3.6 apg
Marsheik Witherspoon, G, 5.5 ppg, 3.1 rpg, 3.3 apg
Ugo Oha, C, 14.6 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 3.6 blocks
Anna Montaņana, F, 12.4 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 5.6 apg
Liz Dancause, F, 4.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.3 apg
Richmond
Kate Flavin, F, 19.6 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.6 apg
Christina Campion, F, 8.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.4 apg
Saona Chapman, G, 14.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 5.5 apg
Araceli Gil, G, 9.7 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 2.4 apg
Amber Goppert, G, 10.0 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 2.6 apg
Storylines
McKeown 41st to 400
Coach Joe McKeown has knocked down a few records in the past year, setting the bar for victories in conference with 192, making him the winningest coach in Atlantic 10 history. McKeown also passed former Rutgers head coach Theresa Grentz (293 victories) as the Atlantic 10's winningest coach in overall play (conference and non-conference) with 333 wins in his career at GW. Now, McKeown is the 41st coach in Division I women's college basketball to reach 400-career victories. Entering the 2003-04 season, the 17-year coach owned an overall record of 386-137. With the win over La Salle on January 31, coach McKeown carved out his own piece of history in college athletics.
Paging Oscar Robertson
Junior Anna Montaņana is doing her best impression of probably the games best all-around player, Oscar Robertson. Montaņana finally secured the long-awaited triple-double she had been so close to over the past month, with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists versus La Salle on January 31. It was only the second triple-double in GW history, men's or women's. She is currently averaging 12.4 points, 7.9 rebounds and 5.6 assists on the season and 11.8 points, nine rebounds and 6.4 assists in conference. But, it has been over the Colonials six-game winning streak where Montaņana has set herself apart. She is just shy of averaging a triple-double over that span at 11.6 points per game, 10 rebounds and 7.4 assists.
Witherspoon Is Suffering From Arachnophobia
Early in the season, Marsheik Witherspoon was helping the Colonials with her in-your-face defense and strong play at the point, but a visit from the Richmond Spiders on January 16, changed all of that. Witherspoon buried two early jumpers on her way to a career-high 16 points and has gone 22-35, 63 percent, since then. She also posted the first double-double of her career when she scored 10 points and dished out 10 assists versus Fordham. If Sheik, as she is known on the team, can continue to be an offensive threat, opposing coaches will have a difficult time figuring out who to stop.
Droppin' Dimes
With the number of weapons GW has in its arsenal, it's no doubt they are one of the most feared offenses in the Atlantic 10. They'd be difficult to guard if they played a lot of one-on-one, but they are that much tougher when they share the ball, which is exactly what they've been doing. In their last game versus Fordham, the Colonials tallied 23 assists on 29 field goals. For the season, they have totaled 358 assists on 550 field goals, a 65 percent clip. If they continue to share the ball, their field goal percentage will continue to climb, while the number of losses will continue to fall.
R-E, R-E-B, R-E-B-O-U-N-D, REBOUND
After struggling early in the season to win the battle of the boards, the Colonials are now averaging more rebounds than their opponent. Not coincidentally, GW is also on a seven-game winning streak. During the seven games, the Colonials have outrebounded their opponents by a margin of 5.9 rebounds per contest. GW has done a great job of holding teams to one shot and currently leads the Atlantic 10 in defensive rebounding at 28 per game.
