George Washington University Athletics
GW Opens Home Slate With Coppin State Thursday
11/17/2010 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Nov. 17, 2010
GW Notes vs. Coppin State 
| | Watch on GW All-Access | Live Blog | Tickets
WASHINGTON, DC - The George Washington women's basketball team makes its Charles E. Smith Center debut for the 2010-11 season Thursday evening against Coppin State. The contest is the first of three consecutive home games for the Colonials and marks the fourth time in the past five seasons that the Eagles have visited Smith Center.
Fans who cannot make it Thursday have a number of options for following the game:
• Watch Live on GW All-Access - $9.95 monthly fee or $79.95 annual fee
• Follow live stats via
• Follow the action and submit questions via the Live Blog
GW has won all four previous meetings against Coppin State by an average of 30.0 points - skewed by a 107-42 Colonials' triumph in the teams' initial meeting in Baltimore in November 1993. The Colonials have won the three recent meetings at Smith Center by an average of 18.3 points. However, GW had to come from behind late for last year's 68-64 home victory, scoring the game's last five points over the final 2:06 for the win.
GW (0-2) is coming off a pair of losses in the Best Buy Classic at the University of Minnesota's Williams Arena in Minneapolis last weekend. The Colonials dropped a 75-51 decision to the Green Bay Phoenix Saturday, then fell in the consolation game to the Northern Illinois Huskies, 66-60. It is GW's first 0-2 start since the 2003-04 season, a year when it finished 22-8 overall and earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Redshirt senior Ivy Abiona was named to the Best Buy Classic All-Tournament Team and GWsports.com's Colonial of the Week after averaging 9.0 points, 12.0 rebounds and 2.5 blocks for GW last weekend. Abiona posted her third career double-double with 11 points and career-best 15 rebounds in Sunday's loss to NIU. The two games were Abiona's first since posting a double-double in a Postseason WNIT first-round loss at Florida Gulf Coast in March 2009. She missed all of the 2009-10 season while rehabbing a torn ACL.
There could be three sets of former high school teammates on the floor Thursday. GW has two sets of former scholastic teammates in Tara Booker and Sara Mostafa and Megan Nipe and Kye Allums. However, GW freshman Chelisa Painter and Coppin State rookie Jessica Mayes just finished their high school careers at Indian River High in Chesapeake, VA, last winter. 6-foot-1 forward Painter was one of ESPN's Top 100 recruits and averaged 14.9 points and 12.0 rebounds, while 5-foot-7 shooting guard Mayes averaged eight points, four assists and four rebounds as the duo helped the Braves to an undefeated regular season in the Southeastern District.
Coppin State (1-1) has split its first two games of the 2010-11 season. The Eagles opened with a 75-68 victory at Towson last Friday, but dropped a 58-51 decision at UMBC Tuesday night.
CSU tied for eighth place in the 11-team Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference last season with a 5-11 league record and finished 10-19 overall. Last season marked the first time Coppin State failed to make a postseason appearance since 2004. The Eagles claimed MEAC Tournament titles to reach the NCAA Tournament in 2005, 2006 and 2008, and earned automatic bids to the Postseason WNIT in 2007 and 2009.
