Game 40: Women at Duquesne

The #16/13 women's team travels to Pittsburgh, PA to face Duquesne (11-10, 2-4) tonight at the A.J. Palumbo Center. GW (17-4, 5-1) is coming off of a 81-73 home win over Dayton on Tuesday. In that one, four Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Kimberly Beck (18 points, nine assists), Jessica Adair (17 points, seven rebounds), Sarah-Jo Lawrence (15 points, four rebounds, seven assists), and Antelia Parrish (15 points). Coach Joe McKeown needs just one more win to become the 34th coach in Division I women's basketball history to reach 500 career wins.

The Dukes, who were picked to finish 13th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return three starters from the squad that went 7-20 and failed to qualify for the conference tournament. Duquesne has two players averaging double figures in scoring: 5-4 junior guard Kristi Little (18.2 points, 3.7 rebounds per game this season) and 5-10 sophomore guard Keri Pryor (12 points, 4.2 rebounds). Coach Suzie McConnell-Serio is 11-10 in her first year with the Dukes.

Duquesne is coming off of a 62-61 loss at St. Bonaventure on Wednesday. In that one, the Bonnies' Dana Mitchell hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds remaining to hand the Dukes their fourth loss in the last six games. Four Duquesne players reached double figures in scoring: 6-1 senior forward Jade Singleton (14 points, five rebounds), 6-0 freshman forward Samantha Pollino (12 points, six rebounds, four assists), Little (12 points, three rebounds, six assists), and Pryor (11 points, four assists). The Dukes' best victory of the season was an 83-69 home win over Dayton on January 19.

This is the 51st-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 45-5. The last meeting was on February 8, 2007, which the Colonials won 76-46 at the Smith Center. In that one, four GW players reached double figures in scoring: Adair (14 points, 10 rebounds), Beck (13 points, four rebounds, six assists, six steals), Lawrence (12 points, four assists, six steals), and Kenan Cole (11 points, six assists). The Colonials held the Dukes to just 17-50 (34%) shooting from the field. GW has won four-straight in the series and is 19-5 at Duquesne.

GW has struggled on the road in conference play, but they seem to be back on track since the loss at Temple. Expect McKeown to get number 500 tonight.

Max Smith and Varun Saxena have the call for WRGW with Evan Waxman and Max Feinblatt handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m.

Game notes: There are only 21 active Division I women's basketball coaches with 500 career wins...McKeown won 68 games in three seasons at New Mexico State from 1986 to 1989...It has been 7,733 days since McKeown's first career win...It came on November 26, 1986 over Nevada...Whitney Allen needs one rebound to become the ninth player in program history with 600 points and 600 rebounds...Beck needs two steals to pass Colleen McCrea for third place in program history...GW has been ranked for 31 consecutive weeks in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll...That is a school record...Duquesne has had just two winning A-10 seasons...They came in 1998 and 2004.

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

Update, 10.27 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

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)

Duquesne
G - Kristi Little (5-4 junior from Altoona, PA)
G - Keri Pryor (5-10 sophomore from Morgantown, WV)
G - Jocelyn Chandler (5-10 senior from Uniontown, PA)
F - Samantha Pollino (6-0 freshman from Johnstown, PA)
F - Jade Singleton (6-1 senior from Cleveland Heights, OH)

McKeown becomes the 34th coach in D-I women's basketball history with 500 career wins. Four GW players reached double figures in scoring: Beck (19 points, five rebounds, five assists), Adair (17 points, five rebounds), Allen (14 points, eight rebounds), and Parrish (14 points, six rebounds).

Jazmine Adair didn't play due to an injury she suffered on Tuesday against Dayton. With the other Adair in foul trouble for much of the game, Jamila Bates played a season-high 19 minutes.

But the real story is McKeown. I've gotten word that a big celebration is scheduled for the team's next game against Richmond next Sunday afternoon at the Smith Center. I'll wait to wax poetic about it until tomorrow. Congratulations to the McKeowns and everyone who helped him get to this point.

That's all for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow when the men visit Temple. As always, thanks for stopping by.