George Washington University Athletics
GW Braces for A-10 West Showdown
2/19/2005 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 19, 2005
WASHINGTON, DC - WASHINGTON, DC - The top two teams in the A-10 West tangle when GW (17-7, 10-3 Atlantic 10) and Xavier (17-7, 11-2 Atlantic 10) meet on Sunday, Feb. 20 at 2:00 p.m. at the Smith Center. The Musketeers are 11-2 in the league, one game ahead of the Colonials for first place in the division.
GW tied its season-best winning streak on Feb. 17, knocking off Saint Joseph's, 60-55, for its fourth straight victory. Senior All-America candidate Anna Montañana scored a personal-high 26 points in the game and added 12 rebounds to record her fourth double-double of the year. Freshman Kimberly Beck notched seven assists against the Hawks to become the Colonials' all-time freshman assists leader (128).
Montañana ranks third in the Atlantic 10 in scoring at 16.6 points per game. She is also the league's second-best free-throw shooter in terms of percentage at .810 (64-79).
As a team, GW leads the conference, and is ranked 19th in the nation in steals per game (11.46) and the Colonials have been the best ball hawkers in the A-10, forcing 21.9 turnovers per outing.
Xavier survived a scare at Fordham on Feb. 18 to improve its overall record to 17-7. Against the Rams, the Musketeers trailed by 12 points at halftime, but rallied for a 59-57 triumph. Xavier has won four out of its last five games.
Preseason All-Conference pick Tara Boothe leads the A-10 in scoring with a 19.7 points per game average. She also ranks sixth in the league in rebounding at 7.8 boards per outing. Boothe is third in the conference in field goal percentage (.521, 183-351). Miranda Green (11.0 ppg) and Suntana Granderson (10.0 ppg) are also averaging double-digit points for Xavier.
The Colonials have been the best team in the A-10 in field goal percentage defense against conference opponents. GW is holding league foes to just .361. By comparison Xavier is shooting .434 from the field (598-1377) and leads the conference in scoring average (67.5).
Xavier defeated the Colonials, 57-42, on Jan. 16 in the season's first meeting between the two clubs. Boothe paced the Musketeers with 23 points, while Montañana scored 19 to lead the Colonials. GW holds a 13-10 advantage in the all-times series and they are 8-1 versus Xavier at the Smith Center.
Tickets for Sunday's game can be purchased by calling the GW athletics box office at (202) 994-6050 or by calling (202)432-SEAT. Fans can also hear the game live over the Internet on GW's student radio station (WRGW Radio) at www.gwradio.com.
