George Washington University Athletics
GW Hosts St. Bonaventure in Saturday's Basketball Nightcap
1/14/2011 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2011
GW Notes vs. St. Bonaventure 
| | Watch Live on GW All-Access | Live Blog | Tickets
WASHINGTON, DC - The George Washington women's basketball team hosts St. Bonaventure Saturday at 5:00 pm in the finale of a Colonials basketball doubleheader at Charles E. Smith Center. The GW men's team faces Harvard in a non-conference tilt at 2:00 pm, followed by the women's team against the Bonnies no earlier than 5:00 pm.
Fans who cannot make it Saturday have a number of options for following the game:
• Watch Live on GW All-Access - $9.95/month or $79.95/annual subscription fee
• Follow live game stats via
• Follow the action and submit questions via the Live Blog
The GW Student-Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC) is partnering with more than 100 Special Olympics athletes in Virginia, Maryland and the District, DC Public Schools and Virginia Special Education students and Best Buddies Program participants for Special Olympics Night Saturday. Each Special Olympics guest will be paired with a GW SAAC "buddy," who will sit together to watch the Colonials' game against the Bonnies. At halftime, two area Special Olympics basketball teams will scrimmage with GW men's basketball players refereeing the contest. Other Special Olympians and their GW Student-Athlete buddies will cheer on their peers courtside during the contest.
GW (5-10, 0-1 Atlantic 10) enters Saturday's game having lost six consecutive games after starting the season 5-4. GW has also lost its last two home games after opening the season 5-0 at Smith Center. Junior Tara Booker has averaged 13.2 points and 8.0 rebounds the past four games and paces the Colonials at 10.9 points per game. Classmate Sara Mostafa has pumped in 14.8 points per game on 48 percent shooting the last four games.
Despite losing two of its last three meetings against St. Bonaventure, GW still owns a 32-3 advantage in the all-time series, including a perfect 16-0 mark against the Bonnies at Charles E. Smith Center.
In the most recent series meeting, Sara Mostafa's 14-point, 10-rebound double-double wasn't enough as GW dropped a 74-50 decision to St. Bonaventure at the Reilly Center last Valentine's Day. Tiana Myers added 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting and four assists for GW. Dana Mitchell (20) and Megan Van Tatenhove (14) combined for 34 points on 15-of-28 shooting for SBU and the Bonnies bench chipped in 30 points. With GW trailing 29-19 at the break, the teams' traded the first four baskets of the second half before a 12-0 run put SBU on top 45-23 with 13:33 remaining. The Colonials closed within 15 midway through the second half on the strength of a 13-6 run, but the Bonnies quickly answered with a 9-2 spurt and the margin never dipped below 20 points the final seven minutes.
In its most recent outing, GW held a 35-30 advantage at halftime, but Richmond guard Brittani Shells scored 19 of her game-high 30 points in the second half and the Colonials dropped their Atlantic 10 Conference opener, 68-55, at Charles E. Smith Center last Saturday. The loss was GW's sixth straight overall, fifth straight against the Spiders, and third straight in A-10 openers. Junior Tara Booker hit four 3-pointers, scored 16 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead the Colonials. Junior Sara Mostafa reached double figures for the fourth straight game with 10 points. Richmond used a 21-0 run in the early part of the second half to turn a four-point deficit into a 17-point cushion.
St. Bonaventure (11-6, 1-1 Atlantic 10) picked up its first conference win of the season Wednesday with a 74-54 rout of La Salle at the Reilly Center in Olean, NY. The victory was the seventh in the last 10 games for the Bonnies, who opened A-10 play with a 60-54 loss at Duquesne last Saturday despite leading the Dukes by as much as 16 in the second half.
Junior forward Megan Van Tatenhove led four Bonnies players in double figures against the Explorers with 22 points. SBU scored the final five points of the first half to lead 38-35 at halftime, then netted the opening 15 points of the second half and cruised the rest of the way.
Van Tatenhove leads SBU in scoring at 14.1 points per game, followed by junior sharp-shooter Jessica Jenkins' 11.9 points per game and 46 made 3-pointers.
Despite ranking near the bottom of NCAA Division I in steals (306th), blocks (301st) and 3-point field goal defense (273rd), St. Bonaventure is 13th nationally in scoring defense at 52.9 points allowed per game. That can be partially attributed to the Bonnies' slow-down pace in which they average just 48 field-goal attempts per game and 59.1 points per game, which ranks 262nd nationally.
