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 GW welcomes Coppin State Thursday night for the first regular-season basketball game in newly renovated Charles E. Smith Center. |
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GW Hosts Coppin State as Basketball Returns to Smith Center Thursday
Nov. 18, 2009
GW vs. Coppin State Notes 
| GameTracker | GW All-Access
WASHINGTON, DC - Fresh off a last-second victory at North Texas, the George Washington women's basketball team hosts Coppin State Thursday evening at 7:00 pm, in the first regular-season basketball game in newly renovated Charles E. Smith Center.
GW (1-0) is coming off a thrilling 84-82 comeback victory in its season opener at North Texas Tuesday night. Freshman Shi-Heria Shipp's game-winning tip-in with 3.3 seconds remaining capped an 11-point, second-half comeback which gave GW its fourth consecutive season-opening win and improved the program to 20-15 all-time in season openers. Sophomore Sara Mostafa approached a triple-double with 17 points, 11 rebounds and eight blocks - all career highs - with all of her points coming in the second half. GW had six players competing in their first college game as well as four players making their first collegiate start.
GW welcomes Coppin State to Smith Center for the third time in four seasons, having knocked off the Eagles in the second game of both the 2006-07 and 2008-09 seasons. Kay-Kay Allums led 11 different scorers with 12 points as the Colonials routed the Eagles, 77-36, last November. GW is 18-14 all-time against opponents from the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) - 9-10 against MEAC-member and District-rival Howard.
GW embarks on a five-game road swing following Thursday's game, highlighted a week-long trip including the Junkanoo Jam in the Bahamas Nov. 27 & 28 and a visit to storied program Tennessee Dec. 1.
Coppin State (2-0) opened the season with victories over NCAA Division II programs West Virginia State, 75-57, and St. Augustine's, 57-41, in the Coppin State Classic last Friday and Saturday, respectively. It was CSU's final two games in the Coppin Center as the team is slated to move into the newly constructed 4,100-seat Physical Education Center for the remainder of the 2009-10 season.
Junior Shante Cummings averaged 19.5 points in the victories, including a career-high 24 in the season opener against the WVSU Yellow Jackets. The Eagles trailed the Yellow Jackets by two at the half, but Cummings scored 18 of her 24 points in the second period to spark a 20-point swing. Cummings also added a team-high 15 points in the 16-point triumph over the Falcons. Sophomore Jeanine Manley had an 11-point, 14-rebound double-double against the Yellow Jackets and was the only other Eagles' player to reach double figures in the first two outings.
Head coach Derek Brown has led the Eagles to five consecutive postseasons and an average of 17 victories during his 10 years at the helm. Coppin State finished 14-15 overall in 2008-09 and earned the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference's automatic bid to the Postseason WNIT, falling to West Virginia in the first round. CSU qualified for the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008, and appeared in the WNIT in 2007.
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