University of Richmond Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts George Washington This Sunday
01/28/2006 | Women's Basketball
Jan. 28, 2006
The University of Richmond women's basketball team will host Atlantic 10 rival George Washington this Sunday at 2:00 p.m. at the Robins Center. The Spiders, now 8-12 and 3-5 in the A-10, will look to beat the Colonials for the first time in 23 years.
SPIDER SCOOP: The Spiders are now 8-12 overall and 3-5 in the A-10 after victories over Hampton, UC-Santa Barbara, Harvard, Howard, Wake Forest, and A-10 opponents Saint Louis, Duquesne, and Fordham, and losses to Boston College, James Madison, Long Beach, VCU, Virginia Tech, Virginia, Missouri State, and A-10 opponents La Salle, Xavier, Dayton, UMass, and Charlotte. Richmond is led by sophomore sensation Mirna Mazic (10.9 ppg, 7.1 rpg), who recorded four double-doubles and one 30-point game this season, senior guard Saona Chapman (9.2 ppg), who reached double figures in nine games this season, senior guard Araceli Gil (9.0 ppg), and junior forward Kelly Roche (8.1 ppg). The Spiders are coming off their third-straight 20-plus winning season (23-7) in which they advanced to the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
LAST SPIDER GAME: The Spiders are coming off a 60-56 loss to the Atlantic 10 newcomer Charlotte during their first-ever match-up at Halton Arena on Friday night. The 49ers came back from an 11-point deficit to take as much as a 14-point lead over the Spiders in the battle for an A-10 victory. Senior center Amber Petillon recorded her first-ever double-double as she scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds, while freshman Sarah Williams tied her career-high 11 points and career-high five rebounds. While Petillon scored her third double-digit game of the season and Williams reached double-figures for the second time in the last three games, Chapman knocked in eight points in the second half, and Gil tied her career-high eight rebounds.
ROOKIE OF THE WEEK: Williams earned Rookie of the Week honors this week for her standout performances vs. Fordham and at Charlotte, in which she averaged 10.0 points and 4.5 rebounds, and was 4-6 from the three-point line.
GEORGE WASHINGTON GOSSIP: The Colonials are now 13-5 overall and 6-1 in the conference after wins over No. 19 Purdue, Villanova, Stony Brook, SMU, Maine, Yale, Sacramento State, and A-10 opponents Dayton, Saint Joseph's, No. 19 Temple, Xavier, Rhode Island, and Fordham, as well as losses to Virginia, No. 18 Texas, No. 1 Tennessee, NC State, and A-10 opponent U-Mass. Led by Sarah Jo Lawrence (12.2 ppg), Jessica Simmonds (11.5 ppg, 8.5 rpg), and Kimberly Beck (11.0 ppg), George Washington is returning four starters from last year's squad that went 23-9 overall, tying for first in the A-10 West Division with a 13-3 league mark, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
SERIES: This is the 18th meeting between the Spiders and the Colonials with the Colonials leading the series 13-4. GW has won the last 10 meetings, including all three match-ups last year, and the Spiders have not defeated GW in over 23 years (since their victory on 11/23/82 at the Robins Center).
THE COACHES: Richmond head coach Michael Shafer is 8-12 (3-5 in the Atlantic 10) in his first season with the Spiders, earning his first win as head coach against Hampton and experiencing his first loss against Boston College in the Pre-Season WNIT. Shafer joined the Spiders after coaching at Georgia for the last 11 years where he helped lead the Lady Bulldogs to 11 straight NCAA Tournament appearances and four Southeastern Conference championships, three regular-season titles, and one tournament title. George Washington head coach Joe McKeown is in his seventeenth season with the Colonials and has compiled a record of 376-139 during her tenure as head coach. McKeown entered this season as the Atlantic 10 Conference's most winningest women's college basketball coach in terms of total victories (363) and league wins (211), as well as being among the winningest coaches in the history of women's basketball, owning a .737 career winning percentage in 19 seasons. The four-time A-10 Coach of the Year and National Coach of the Year Nominee (1995, 1997) led his squad to 15 consecutive winning seasons, twelve NCAA Tournament appearances, two WNIT appearances, and four Atlantic 10 titles. McKeown came to the Colonials with seven years of collegiate experience, including three as a head coach at New Mexico State where he led the program to three consecutive winning seasons.
CURRENT STREAKS: Richmond is currently 5-3 (2-1 in the A-10) in the Robins Center, while GW, which lost its last road game to UMass on Jan. 22, is 3-2 (2-1 in the A-10) on the road. While the Spiders lost their game on Fri. night, GW won its game with Fordham.
`05 POST SEASON OPPONENT: GW is the eighth team that the Spiders have faced that advanced to postseason play last season and the fourth `05 NCAA participant that they've played this season. Currently, the Spiders are 2-5 against these `05 postseason opponents and 1-2 vs. `05 NCAA participants.
NEXT CONTEST: Following Sunday's contest, the Spiders will enjoy a few days off before traveling to Philadelphia, Pa. for a match-up with No. 17 Temple on Friday night at 7:00 p.m.
