Game 52: Women at Richmond

The #15/16 women's team travels to Richmond, VA to face Richmond (13-14, 6-6) tonight at the Robins Center. GW (22-5, 10-2) is coming off of a 61-53 win at St. Joseph's on Sunday afternoon. In that one, Jessica Adair was the only Colonial in double figures in scoring with 20 points, four rebounds, and four steals. The Hawks cut the deficit to one on a few occasions in the final minutes, but a pair of back-to-back Antelia Parrish three-pointers put St. Joseph's away for good.

The Spiders, who were picked to finish fifth out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10 Conference, return four starters from the squad that went 13-17 and lost in the opening round of the conference tournament. Richmond is led by 5-7 freshman guard Brittani Shells (14 points per game this season), 5-9 junior guard Johanna McKnight (13.3 points, 4.9 rebounds), and preseason Third Team All-A-10 selection 6-0 senior forward Christina Campion (8.1 points, 6.6 rebounds). Coach Michael Shafer is 39-48 in his third season at Richmond.

Richmond is coming off of a 76-67 home loss to Duquesne on Saturday afternoon. In that one, three Spiders reached double figures in scoring: Shells (19 points, seven rebounds), McKnight (16 points, 10 rebounds, five steals), and 6-2 sophomore forward Katie Holzer (12 points, four rebounds). However, the Spiders were outscored by 14 points in the second half, turned the ball over 19 times, and shot just 5-21 (23.8%) from three-point land. Richmond has alternated between wins and losses in its last five games (2-3). The Spiders are 6-5 at the Robins Center this season.

This is the 19th-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 16-2. The last meeting came on February 10, 2008 at the Smith Center, which the Colonials won 78-51. In that one, #14/13 GW had four players reach double figures in scoring: Adair (27 points, four rebounds), Kimberly Beck (18 points, eight assists, three steals), Parrish (12 points, eight rebounds), and Sarah-Jo Lawrence (10 points, eight rebounds, five assists). Shells led the Spiders with 21 points, while 5-10 sophomore guard Danielle Bell added 13 points. The Colonials limited the visitors to just 17-60 (28.3%) shooting from the field. GW has won the last four meetings in the series and is 6-1 all-time at Richmond.

The pick here is for the Colonials to get a tough road win.

Ben Toder and Jordan Teller have the call for WRGW with Scott Trocchia handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m.

Game notes: Lawrence has been named to ESPN The Magazine's Academic All-America Third Team...She joins Kenan Cole (first team in 2007) and Jennifer Shasky (second team in 1993) as the only Colonials to ever be named national Academic All-Americans...Beck is believed to be the only player in Division I women's basketball history to have at least 1,300 points, 600 assists, 300 rebounds, 200 steals, and 60 blocks in her career...Beck is the only A-10 player ever to do so...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...GW has won 24 of its last 26 regular season A-10 games...The Colonials have won at least 20 games in each of the last nine seasons and in 17 of the last 18 years...GW is 8-3 on the road and 9-4 away from the Smith Center this season...GW has been ranked for 35-straight weeks in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, a program record...GW has made at least one three-pointer in 82 consecutive games...Adair needs 42 points to become the 25th player in program history with 1,000 career points...The Colonials have set a single-season program record with a total attendance of 25,919...McKeown is 15-1 all-time against Richmond and 5-1 against Shafer...Shafer is 1-5 against McKeown and the Colonials...GW is 5-0 on Wednesdays, 13-0 when holding opponents under 60 points, and 12-0 when scoring at least 70 points...The Colonials are 17-4 coming off of a win...McKnight is the A-10 Co-Player of the Week.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from Robins Center once we get closer to tip-off.

Update, 11.02 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)

Richmond
G - Brittani Shells (5-7 freshman from Camden, DE)
G - Kara Powell (5-7 sophomore from Feeding Hill, MA)
G - Johanna McKnight (5-9 junior from Kenner, LA)
F - Christina Campion (6-0 senior from Hamilton Square, NJ)
C - Crystal Goring (6-3 freshman from Morvant, Trinidad)

A nice 75-59 road win for the Colonials as Lawrence (19 points) and Adair (17 points, five rebounds) lead the way. GW was efficient from the field, shooting 31-55 (56.4%), including 6-14 (42.9%) from three-point land.

GW will look to clinch at least a share of the A-10 title on Senior Day, this Saturday at home against Fordham. We'll be back then. As always, thanks for stopping by.