George Washington University Athletics
Women's Basketball Opens In Preseason Top 25
10/26/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 26, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC - Street & Smith's 2005-06 Preseason College Basketball Yearbook ranked George Washington's women's basketball No. 23. Head Coach Joe McKeown starts his 17th year at GW returning four of last year's starters who led the Colonials to a 23-9 record and advanced to the second round of the 2005 NCAA Tournament.
Leading the Colonials' charge this year is senior forward Jessica Simmonds who earned Second-Team Atlantic 10 All-Conference accolades in 2004-05. Supporting Simmonds is last year's A-10 Rookie of the Year sophomore guard Kimberly Beck. In all, eight letterwinners return from last year's squad.
Street & Smith's described the Colonials' outlook for the coming year as follows:
"Jessica Simmonds is a powerful post presence, Kimberly Beck is a solid point guard and coach Joe McKeown knows exactly what he's doing, so don't expect the Colonials to miss Anna Montañana all that much. The Colonials will need players like Corinne Turner to do more, and it would be even better if one of their tall recruits joined Simmonds up front. But one way or another George Washington will win 20 or more games this season."
The regular season starts at home with a Friday, Nov. 18, opener against Virginia at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center. The Colonials then travel to the Bahamas for the Junkanoo Jam Tournament to face Purdue Nov. 25 and either Texas or South Carolina the following day.
This season, GW will play at least 14 games against teams that earned bids to the postseason last year. Opponents who made the 2005 NCAA Tournament include Final Four participant Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina State, Purdue, Richmond and Temple, while five other opponents participated in the 2005 WNIT (Charlotte, Maine, SMU, Villanova and Xavier).
Season tickets can be purchased by contacting the GW Athletics Ticket Office at 202-994-6050 or by email to: gwcoltix@gwu.edu. Individual game tickets can be purchased at GW's Marvin Center (secondary box office) or through TicketMaster at 202-397-SEAT (7328) or by visiting TicketMaster.com. For group tickets, call 202-994-5778 or e-mail: edmckee@gwu.edu.
