Game 57: Women vs. Rhode Island

The #13/12 women's team faces 10th-seeded Rhode Island (13-17, 6-9) in the quarterfinals of the 2008 Atlantic 10 Tournament this evening at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse in Philadelphia, PA. Second-seeded GW (24-5, 12-2) is coming off of a 66-27 home win over Fordham last Saturday on Senior Day. In that one, three Colonials reached double figures in scoring: Jazmine Adair (15 points, 12 rebounds), Kimberly Beck (13 points, five rebounds, four assists, three steals), and Whitney Allen (12 points, 10 rebounds, five steals). GW held the Rams to just 10 points on 4-21 (19%) shooting from the field in the first half.

The Rams, who were picked to finish 12th out of 14 teams in the A-10, return four starters from the squad that went 6-23 and lost in the opening round of the conference tournament. Rhode Island is led by preseason All-A-10 Second Team selection 5-6 senior guard Safi Mojidi (12.5 points per game this season) and 5-10 junior guard Amanda McGrew (9.5 points). Coach Tom Garrick is 46-90 in his fifth season at Rhode Island.

Rhode Island is coming off of a 61-49 win over seventh-seeded St. Bonaventure yesterday afternoon. In that one, three Rams reached double figures in scoring: McGrew (12 points, five steals), 5-8 junior guard Crystal Bellinger (11 points, six rebounds), and 5-10 junior forward/guard Sierra Cooper (11 points, five rebounds). Rhode Island forced 22 Bonnies turnovers as the Rams won an A-10 Tournament game for the first time since 2004. Rhode Island has lost five of its last seven games coming into this one.

This is the 37th-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 32-4. The last meeting came on January 16, 2008 in Kingston, RI, which the Colonials won 48-45. In that one, Beck scored 23 of her career-high 25 points in the second half to help #13/13 GW narrowly avoid the upset. Mojidi led the Rams with 16 points and four steals. The Colonials have won the last 13 meetings in the series, which coach Joe McKeown is 24-2 against Rhode Island and 5-0 against Garrick.

GW has had this tournament on its mind all season. Look for a focused Colonials squad to be too much for the Rams to handle.

Adam Rosenbloom and David Earl have the call for WRGW with Chase Carpenter and Ross Romano handling production duties. You can listen here at approximately six p.m., or a few minutes following the conclusion of the Dayton-Charlotte contest.

Game notes: Tip-off was pushed back two hours because of a leaky roof at the arena...GW has won four A-10 Tournament titles...The last was in 2003...The current senior class is 5-3 in the A-10 Tournament, having lost in the finals twice (in 2005 and 2006 to Temple) and the semifinals once (in 2007 to St. Joseph's)...This is the 26th-ever appearance in the A-10 Tournament for the Colonials...They are one of only four programs to appear in each event...The other three are Massachusetts, St. Joseph's, and Temple...GW is 31-21 all-time in the A-10 Tournament...The Colonials are 2-1 in the first round, 15-9 in the quarterfinals, 10-5 in the semifinals, and 4-6 in the finals...GW has reached the semifinals in 15 of the last 16 years...The Colonials are 6-4 in the A-10 Tournament as the #2 seed...GW needs one win to match the program record for most victories over a two-year stretch...The Colonials went 54-13 from 1995 to 1997...GW is currently 53-9 over the last two seasons...Jessica Adair needs 17 points to become the 25th player in program history with 1,000 career points...Beck and Sarah-Jo Lawrence both reached that plateau earlier this season...Lawrence needs two points to pass Elisa Aguilar for 14th place in program history...Lawrence needs 12 points to pass Anna Montanana for 13th place in program history...Allen needs one block to pass Jennifer Shasky for sole possession of ninth place in program history...Beck and Lawrence are the third-highest scoring duo in program history...The seniors have combined for 2,685 points...Darlene Saar and Debbie Hemery (1995) are first with 3,558 combined points, while Tajama Abraham and Lisa Cermignano (1997) tallied 3,412 combined points...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...The Colonials have won at least 20 games in each of the last nine seasons and in 17 of the last 18 years...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...GW has been ranked for 37-straight weeks in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll, a program record...GW has made at least one three-pointer in 84 consecutive games...The Colonials are 6-2 on Saturdays, 13-0 when scoring at least 70 points, and 19-4 when coming off of a win...GW is 1-1 on a neutral court, having split games with UNLV and Samford at the Four Points by Sheraton Invitational in New Orleans, LA on November 30 and December 1.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse once we get closer to tip-off.

Update, 10.44 p.m. - Here were your starting lineups:

Rhode Island
G - Safi Mojidi (5-6 senior from Silver Spring, MD)
G - Crystal Bellinger (5-8 junior from New York, NY)
G - Amanda McGrew (5-10 junior from Santa Monica, CA)
C - Tanja Licina (6-1 junior from Belgrade, Serbia)
C - Whitney Hollis (6-3 senior from Brooklyn, NY)

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)

Dominant performance by the Colonials as Adair (12 points), Beck (11 points, six assists, five steals), Lawrence (10 points, four rebounds), and Allen (10 points, six rebounds) all reached double figures in scoring. After trailing 12-11 at the 15.30 mark of the first half, GW never looked back.

The women will face Xavier in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon at 2.30 p.m. We'll be back then. As always, thanks for stopping by.