Game 45: Women at Massachusetts

The #14/13 women's team travels to Amherst, MA to face Massachusetts (11-12, 3-5) tonight at the Mullins Center. GW (19-4, 7-1) is coming off of a 78-51 home victory over Richmond on Sunday afternoon. In that one, four Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Jessica Adair (27 points, four rebounds), Kimberly Beck (18 points, eight assists), Antelia Parrish (12 points, eight rebounds), and Sarah-Jo Lawrence (10 points, eight rebounds, five assists). GW held Richmond to just 16 points on 6-28 (21.4) shooting from the field in the first half. The Colonials come in having won five-straight and 14 out of their last 15 games.

The Minutewomen, who were picked to finish seventh out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return four starters from the squad that went 17-13 and lost in the opening round of the conference tournament. Massachusetts is led by two players averaging double figures in scoring: preseason Second Team All-A-10 selection 6-1 senior forward Kate Mills (18.1 points, 7.1 rebounds, two blocks per game this season) and 5-10 senior guard/forward Pam Rosanio (15.9 points, 5.3 rebounds). Coach Marnie Dacko is 73-93 in her sixth season with the Minutewomen; she is 153-197 in her 13th season as a head coach.

Massachusetts is coming off of a 75-64 loss at Rhode Island on Saturday afternoon. In that one, Mills had 24 points and five rebounds, but the Minutewomen allowed the Rams to shoot 27-49 (55.1%) from the field. Massachusetts has alternated between wins and losses over their last seven games (3-4), and is 9-2 at the Mullins Center.

This is the 40th-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 31-8. The last meeting came on January 14, 2007 at the Smith Center, which the Colonials won 61-48. In that one, three GW players reached double figures in scoring: Kenan Cole (19 points), Adair (13 points, nine rebounds, two blocks), and Jazmine Adair (11 points, six rebounds). Mills had 17 points and five rebounds for the Minutewomen, but her team shot just 2-16 (12.5%) from behind the three-point line in the loss. In the last meeting in the series at the Mullins Center on January 22, 2006, Massachusetts won 55-53. GW has won four of the last five meetings with the Minutewomen and is 10-8 at Amherst.

Coach Joe McKeown's squad has been playing extremely well over its last five games. Expect the Colonials to come away with a road win tonight.

Jordan Teller and Varun Saxena have the call for WRGW with Steven Smith handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m.

Game notes: A victory tonight would give GW 20 wins...It would mark the ninth-straight 20-win season and the 17th time in the last 18 years for the Colonials...GW is 6-2 on the road and 7-3 away from the Smith Center this season...The Colonials are 29-3 in A-10 play and 58-12 overall since the loss at Massachusetts in January 2006...Beck is the only player in A-10 history with at least 1,200 points, 600 assists, 300 rebounds, 200 steals, and 60 blocks...Beck currently leads the conference in assists...She is looking to become the 11th player in Division I women's basketball history to lead her conference in assists for four-straight seasons...Whitney Allen needs five blocks to enter the top five in program history...Jessica Adair needs 94 points to become the 25th player in program history to reach 1,000 career points...Adair needs five blocks to pass Carol Byrd for sixth place in program history...Beck is averaging 11.3 points per game in three career meetings with the Minutewomen...McKeown is 24-5 against Massachusetts and 4-1 against Dacko...Dacko is 1-4 against McKeown and the Colonials...GW has hit at least one three-pointer in 78 consecutive games...GW remained at #14 in this week's Associated Press Poll, and at #13 in latest edition of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll...The Colonials have been ranked for 33-straight weeks in the Coaches' Poll, a school record...GW is 2-0 this month, 3-0 on Wednesdays, and 11-0 when scoring at least 70 points...Massachusetts' 17-13 record last season marked its first winning season in eight years...Mills has scored 20 or more points eight times this season.

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

Update, 6.57 p.m. - There will be no women's broadcast on WRGW tonight. The poor weather in the northeast resulted in two of our broadcasters' flights being cancelled, but the crew was still able to arrive in Boston at a reasonable time. However, the airline lost all of the broadcasting equipment.

I have been told that you can watch the game at the GW Athletic Department website, which can be accessed here. If you want to listen to the game, you can hear Massachusetts' broadcast here.

Once again, we are extremely sorry that we will not be able to offer a women's broadcast tonight. I can assure you that we did everything in our power to try and get our broadcasters to Amherst, but mother nature and shoddy airline work has foiled our efforts.

Update, 11.57 p.m. - Here were the starting lineups:

GW
G - Erica Rivera (5-8 freshman from Elizabeth City, NC)
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)

Massachusetts
G - Sakera Young (5-7 junior from Glassboro, NJ)
G - Pam Rosanio (5-10 senior from Southampton, PA)
F - Stepfanie Gerardot (5-10 junior from Fort Wayne, IN)
F - Kate Mills (6-1 senior from Elkton, MD)
C - Whitney McDonald (6-2 senior from Ossining, NY)

A nice win for the Colonials without Beck, who missed a game for the first time in her four-year career due to an illness. Four GW players reached double figures in scoring: Jessica Adair (14 points, seven rebounds), Allen (13 points, 11 rebounds), Lawrence (12 points, four rebounds, five assists), and Jazmine Adair (11 points). The Colonials outrebounded the Minutewomen 43-26 and limited the home team to just 16-51 (31.4%) shooting from the field.

That's all for tonight. As always, thanks for stopping by.