George Washington University Athletics
GW Seeks To Snap Road Skid at Rice Monday Night
1/4/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 4, 2009
GW at Rice Notes 
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HOUSTON, TX - George Washington plays the third of a four-game road swing at Rice's newly renovated Tudor Fieldhouse Monday evening at 8:00 pm ET. The Colonials have dropped all four of their road games this season and are seeking their first road victory since a 75-59 win at Richmond last February.
The Colonials, who are playing in Houston and at Rice for the second time, have split their only two meetings with the Owls, winning 82-62 at Smith Center in Washington, DC, in Dec. 1998, before falling 67-54 in the championship game of the Gene Hackerman Rice Invitational in Dec. 2001.
GW is coming off a 78-59 loss at No. 3/3 Texas A&M Saturday night. The Colonials committed a season-high 29 turnovers, which led to 28 points for the Aggies, who got a combined 55 points from starters Takis Starks, Tanisha Smith and Danielle Gant. Sophomore Erica Rivera scored and career-high 13 points and freshman Tara Booker added 10 as the Colonials' bench outscored their starting five 32-27.
Rice (4-8) has dropped two straight games and seven of its last eight after starting the season with three victories in its first four games. The Owls fell to 0-5 on the road this season with an 81-50 loss at Texas-San Antonio Saturday evening. Prior to that, Rice lost 81-48 at Mississippi in the championship game of the Ole Miss Holiday Classic Dec. 30.
Leading scorer D'Frantz Smart, a 5-0 freshman averaging 13.6 points, was limited to just two points and 0-for-5 shooting in the Owls' 31-point loss against Roadrunners. Rice shot just 21 percent in the first half and trailed 47-19 at halftime. Smart also leads the Owls in assists (4.9 apg) and steals (2.6 spg), while starters Morgan Mayse and Emery Carter pace the team in rebounds (6.1 rpg). Rice finished 14-18 overall last year, a season after reaching the Conference USA title game and the WNIT.
