George Washington University Athletics
Women's Basketball Ranked in Preseason Poll
10/2/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Oct. 2, 2006
WASHINGTON, DC - The George Washington University women's basketball team is ranked No. 21 in Street & Smith's Sports Annuals College Basketball 2006-07 Yearbook, the magazine announced on Friday.
This year's edition of the College Basketball Yearbook is slated to hit newsstands on October 10. GW is the only Atlantic 10 Conference team listed in the magazine's preseason poll.
Head coach Joe McKeown returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from a team that finished 23-9 overall and made the program's 13th NCAA Tournament appearance in 16 seasons last winter. The Colonials finished the season ranked No. 25 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
First-team All-Atlantic 10 selection Kimberly Beck, who is just the third player in league history to lead the conference in assists (5.53 apg) in back-to-back seasons, returns for her junior year. A-10 Sixth Player of the Year Sarah-Jo Lawrence, who paced the Colonials in scoring with 11.6 points per game as a sophomore in 2004-05, senior Kenan Cole and junior Whitney Allen also return to the backcourt.
Washington, DC, natives Jazmine Adair and Jessica Adair are expected to replace all-league center Jessica Simmonds, who completed her two remaining years of eligibility at the University last March after beginning her career at Providence, in the frontcourt. Jazmine was named to the A-10 All-Rookie Team and both players' recorded double-doubles in the NCAA Tournament.
The Colonials' 2006-07 schedule has not yet been released, but the team will play fellow Street & Smith's Preseason Top 10 representatives Maryland, Tennessee and Georgia as part of its non-conference slate.
Street & Smith's Preseason Top 25 Poll
1. Maryland
2. North Carolina
3. Oklahoma
4. Stanford
5. Tennessee
6. Ohio State
7. Duke
8. Connecticut
9. Texas A&M
10. Georgia
11. Vanderbilt
12. Arizona State
13. LSU
14. Rutgers
15. Kentucky
16. New Mexico
17. Texas Tech
18. Old Dominion
19. DePaul
20. Virginia
21. GEORGE WASHINGTON
22. Purdue
23. Iowa State
24. Pittsburgh
25. Southern California
