Game 25: Women vs. Pepperdine

The #22/20 women's team hosts Pepperdine (5-5) this afternoon at the Smith Center. GW (9-3) hasn't played in 10 days since beating #10 Texas A&M 66-65 at the Smith Center on December 20. In that one, Sarah-Jo Lawrence had a career high 29 points and seven rebounds, while Antelia Parrish had 10 points and 10 rebounds, and Kimberly Beck had 10 points and four steals. The Colonials won without Jessica Adair, who suffered a minor concussion against Loyola Marymount two days earlier.

The Waves, who were picked to finish third out of eight teams in the West Coast Conference, return all five starters from the squad that went 14-17 and lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament. Pepperdine is led by 5-7 senior guard Daphanie Kennedy (18.3 points, 4.9 rebounds per game this season) and 6-3 senior forward/center Miranda Ayim (13.3 points, 8.2 rebounds). Coach Julie Rousseau is 45-62 in her fourth season with the Waves.

Pepperdine is coming off of a 60-55 loss at Coppin State on Friday. In that one, 5-10 junior guard Jessica Ross had 12 points, while 6-4 senior forward/center Teiosha George had 11 points and seven rebounds, and Kennedy had 10 points (on 2-16 shooting), four assists, and six steals. However, the Waves shot only 17-61 (27.9%) from the field for the game. Pepperdine has lost three-straight coming into this one, which is the fourth of eight consecutive road games for the squad. As a team, the Waves shoot only 53-181 (29.3%) from behind the three-point line.

This is the second-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 0-1. The sole previous contest came on December 29, 2001 in Malibu, CA, which the Waves won 74-72. After trailing by 18 at intermission, GW cut the deficit to one in the second half, but Pepperdine's free throw shooting down the stretch put the game away.

With the returns of Whitney Allen and Parrish, the Colonials are back on track. You have to pick GW regardless of whether or not Adair plays.

Adam Rosenbloom and Scott Trocchia have the call for WRGW with Nate Gossling handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 12.40 p.m.

Game notes: The start time for this game was moved up because of the Washington Redskins-Dallas Cowboys contest at 4.15...Adair needs one block to move into the top 10 in program history...GW is 5-2 against West Coast Conference teams...The Colonials are looking to close out a perfect December (4-0)...GW is 5-0 when scoring at least 70 points...Coach Joe McKeown needs nine victories to reach 500 for his career.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the Smith Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 4.33 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

Pepperdine
G - Daphanie Kennedy (5-7 senior from Oakland, CA)
G - Shannon Johnson (5-8 senior from Highland Village, TX)
G - Jessica Ross (5-10 junior from Gilroy, CA)
F - Miranda Ayim (6-3 sophomore from London, Canada)
C - Teiosha George (6-4 senior from Palmdale, CA)

GW
G - Kimberly Beck (5-8 senior from Fairburn, GA)
G - Sarah-Jo Lawrence (5-11 senior from Rhoadesville, VA)
F - Whitney Allen (5-11 senior from Woodbridge, VA)
F - Antelia Parrish (6-0 junior from Washington, DC)
C - Jessica Adair (6-4 junior from Washington, DC)

Nice win by the Colonials against a pesky Pepperdine squad. Interesting to note that GW used a short bench, as Jamila Bates (15 minutes), Erica Rivera (10 minutes), and Lora Mitchell (one minute) were the only reserves to see action. Adair came back strong from her injury with 25 points and five rebounds. Nice win all-around.

We'll be back on Thursday when the women visit #15 Auburn. Thanks for stopping by. Happy new year.