George Washington University Athletics
GW Women's Basketball Announces 29-Game 2007-08 Schedule
9/25/2007 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Sept. 25, 2007
2007-08 GW Women's Basketball Schedule in HTML Format
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WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington women's basketball head coach Joe McKeown has released the program's 2007-08 schedule, which features 15 home games, including the four-team GW Thanksgiving Classic, and match-ups against 13 teams that qualified for the postseason last year. The Colonials will host national runner-up Rutgers Nov. 18 on ESPNU and travel to New Orleans in late November for the Four Points by Sheraton Invitational.
GW equaled the school-record with 28 victories and advanced to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament last season. Four starters and 11 letterwinners return to the Colonials roster, led by All-America candidate Kimberly Beck.
Six of 13 opponents which reached the postseason last year participated in the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by Rutgers, which lost to Tennessee 59-46 in the National Championship game and finished 2007 ranked No. 2 in the final ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
GW will open with two road games for the first time in 12 seasons, traveling to NCAA Tournament qualifier Maryland-Baltimore County Nov. 9, and Postseason WNIT participant Virginia Nov. 12. The Colonials opened the 2006-07 and 2005-06 seasons with the Retrievers and Cavaliers at Smith Center, respectively.
Kentucky, which reached the third round of the WNIT last March, tips off GW's home schedule Nov. 14. Rutgers returns to Foggy Bottom Nov. 18, for the first time since 2001 and just the third time since leaving the Atlantic 10 in 1995.
The Charles E. Smith Athletic Center will host a GW-sponsored regular-season tournament, the GW Thanksgiving Classic, for the first time since the 1995-96 season Nov. 23 and 24. Each of the three schools in the field, Western Kentucky (23-9), Southern Illinois (21-11) and South Dakota State (25-6) won at least 20 games and advanced past the second round of the Postseason WNIT in 2006-07. Games tip-off at 3:00 and 5:30 pm both Saturday and Sunday, with the Colonials facing South Dakota St. and Western Kentucky in the later contest each day.
The Colonials return a visit to James Madison Nov. 27. The Dukes enjoyed one of their best seasons ever in 2006-07, finishing 27-6, despite falling to GW, 68-56, at the Smith Center.
GW closes November with a trip to New Orleans for the Four Points by Sheraton Invitational, hosted by the University of New Orleans. UNLV and Samford join the Colonials and host Lady Privateers for the two-day tournament Nov. 30 and Dec. 1.
The Colonials head to Philadelphia Dec. 8 to complete a home-and-home series with Villanova before playing four of its final five non-conference games at home. A three-game homestand begins Dec. 18 with Loyola Marymount. Two days later, McKeown's close friend Gary Blair brings his Texas A&M squad to Washington for a rematch of last March's NCAA Tournament second-round clash. GW knocked the Aggies out of the NCAA Tournament with a 59-47 victory at the Galen Center in Los Angeles. Pepperdine makes the cross-country trek from California to D.C., Dec. 30, while the Colonials make their first visit to the state of Alabama to take on Auburn Jan. 3. Brown travels down the East Coast for the non-conference finale Jan. 6.
The 14-game Atlantic 10 schedule features a home-and-home series with Richmond and a pair of home and road contests against the league's other four postseason qualifiers. The Colonials host defending A-10 Tournament champion Xavier and Postseason WNIT entry Charlotte, as well as Dayton, Fordham, La Salle and Saint Louis, and travel to Temple, at-large Postseason WNIT selection Saint Joseph's, Duquesne, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure. GW's meeting with Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 13, will be televised on ESPN2 and the Sunday, Feb. 24, road contest at Saint Joseph's will air on CSTV.
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 TicketMaster (located on the lower level), through TicketMaster outlets at 202-397-SEAT (7328), or by visiting TicketMaster.com. For group tickets (10 or more), call 202-994-5778 or email Ed McKee at edmckee@gwu.edu.
2007-08 SCHEDULE STORYLINES
- GW's Joe McKeown begins the 2007-08 season 18 wins shy of becoming the 34th Division I head coach to amass 500 career victories. In 21 seasons of coaching, McKeown has averaged 23 wins per season, including better than 24 during the last five years.
- GW is slated to participate in the NCAA-sponsored `Pack the House Challenge' for its A-10 home opener against Xavier on Sunday, Jan. 13. The goal of the promotion is to reach peak capacity at the Smith Center for the nationally televised showdown against the Musketeers.
- GW will play four opponents for the first time this season: Brown, UNLV, Samford and South Dakota St.
- Senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence will play in front of second cousin and former Tennessee star Nikki McCray, who is in her second season as an assistant coach at Western Kentucky. The Colonials will face the Lady Toppers in the GW Thanksgiving Classic Nov. 24.
- McKeown and Blair will go head-to-head for the fifth time when the Colonials and Aggies clash Dec. 20. McKeown owns a 3-1 edge against his long-time friend, leading GW to a victory over Texas A&M in last March's NCAA Tournament and a pair of victories over Blair-led Arkansas teams in 1998 and 1999. Blair's triumph came while head coach at Stephen F. Austin in the late 1980s, when he bested McKeown's New Mexico State team.
