George Washington University Athletics
GW Enters Pink Zone in Saturday Showdown With St. Bonaventure
2/20/2009 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2009
GW vs. St. Bonaventure Notes 
| | GW All-Access
WASHINGTON, DC - George Washington hosts St. Bonaventure at Charles E. Smith Center Saturday in a contest with A-10 Championship first-round bye implications. The Colonials lost to the Bonnies for just the second time in 33 all-time meetings last season, but own a perfect 15-0 mark against SBU at Smith Center.
Fans can follow live stats via and can view live streaming of the game by subscribing to GW All-Access.
Saturday's game marks GW's participation in the annual Pink Zone promotion (formerly Think Pink), an event sponsored by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association and designed to raise awareness and funds for breast cancer research and the Kay Yow/WBCA Cancer Fund through fan support at women's basketball games. Fans are encouraged to join the GW and St. Bonaventure players, coaches and staff in wearing pink to this special game.
GW (16-10, 8-3 A-10) moved into a third-place tie in the A-10 standings (with St. Bonaventure and Temple) with its most one-sided conference victory of the season, 83-62, over Massachusetts at home Wednesday night. The Colonials outscored the Minutewomen, 50-30, and shot 61.3 percent during the second half to break open a one-point 33-32 contest at the half. Senior Yolanda Lavender tied a career-high with five 3-pointers for a season-high 19 points, senior Jessica Adair added 17, and freshmen Tara Booker and Tiana Myers scored 13, with Booker adding 10 boards for her first collegiate double-double.
With three conference games remaining, GW sits in a tie for third in the A-10 standings with Temple and St. Bonaventure, with the top four teams in the regular season earning first-round byes in the A-10 Championship. The Colonials have won at least a share of seven consecutive regular-season league titles, haven't finished lower than a tie for second since the 1989-90 season and haven't participated in the A-10 Championship's first round since 1986.
St. Bonaventure built a 44-24 halftime lead and overcame a furious GW rally late in the second half to knock off the #14/13 Colonials, 63-60, at Reilly Center last Feb. 16. GW used a 23-5 run to grab only its second lead of the game, 58-57, with 4:26 remaining, but SBU regained the lead on a three-pointer and didn't trail again. The loss snapped the Colonials' 26-game winning streak over the Bonnies.
St. Bonaventure (19-7, 8-3 A-10) lost for the first time in five games with a 70-68 overtime loss to Duquesne at Reilly Center Wednesday. The loss kept the Bonnies from improving on their school-record 19 victories and reaching the 20-win plateau for the first time in the program's 37-year history. Dana Mitchell led SBU's starters with 14 points, while the bench, led by Megan Van Tatenhove's 14, contributed 36 of the team's 68 points to help the Bonnies score five points in the final 71 seconds of regulation to force overtime against the Dukes.
Despite the loss, St. Bonaventure is assured of its first winning conference season since joining the A-10 in 1988-89 and likely its highest league finish. The Bonnies tied for fourth in the A-10 during the 1993-94 season, only to fall to No. 5-seed Rhode Island, 120-62, in the quarterfinals. Mitchell, only a junior, is SBU's eighth leading scorer all-time with 1,328 points, including a team-leading 15.1 ppg this season.
