George Washington University Athletics
GW Women's Hoops Opens NCAA Tournament on Friday
3/17/2016 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
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March 17, 2016
| NCAA Tournament First Round | Sioux Falls Regional | |
| WHO | #8 George Washington Colonials (26-6) vs. #9 Kansas State Wildcats (18-12) | Bracket |
| WHEN | Friday, March 18 | 5:00 p.m. | Tickets |
| LOCATION | Colonial Life Arena (18,000) | Columbia, S.C. | Directions & Parking |
| COVERAGE | ESPN2 | | ESPN3 | WatchESPN App | | Championship Central | @GW_WBB |
| NOTES | GW Notes  | Press Conference Quotes |
COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The eighth-seeded George Washington women's basketball team returns to the NCAA Tournament for the 17th time in program history when it faces ninth-seeded Kansas State on Friday at 5 p.m. at South Carolina's Colonial Life Arena.
With a win over Kansas State on Friday, GW would face the winner of No. 1 South Carolina and No. 16 Jacksonville in the second round on Sunday at 7 p.m. with a spot in the Sweet 16 on the line.
GW's 17 NCAA Tournament appearances -- all since 1991 -- are the most in Atlantic 10 history. After a span of 15 NCAA berths in 18 years (1991-2008), the Colonials returned to the tournament in 2015 for the first time since 2008 and now make their second consecutive appearance in 2016, the first time they have earned back-to-back berths since 2007 and 2008. The Atlantic 10 champion Colonials make their third straight postseason appearance after reaching the WNIT in 2014.
GW is 18-16 all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including 13-3 in the first round. The Colonials have advanced to the Sweet 16 four times, including back-to-back appearances in 2007 and 2008, and reached the Elite Eight in 1997.
While not the same arena, the Colonials return to the city in which they advanced to their first and only regional final. No. 5 seed GW upset top-seeded North Carolina, 55-46, in the 1997 Sweet 16 at the Carolina Coliseum before falling to No. 6 seed Notre Dame in the Elite Eight.
Ranked 23rd in the RPI, GW enters the NCAA Tournament with a 26-6 overall record and riding a five-game winning streak. GW won its second straight A-10 title after claiming a share of the league's regular-season crown with a 13-3 mark.
The Colonials knocked off Duquesne, 63-60, in the Atlantic 10 championship game on March 6 to claim their second straight A-10 title and league-record sixth overall, becoming the first team to win back-to-back A-10 crowns since Xavier in 2010 and 2011. Junior Hannah Schaible scored a team-high 17 points and sophomore Brianna Cummings added 15 to pace GW. Junior Caira Washington was named the tournaments Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the All-Tournament Team by Schaible and senior Jonquel Jones.
GW averaged 71.0 points per game in three games at the tournament while holding its opponents to 55.3 points and 31.3 percent shooting. In each game the Colonials limited their opponent to single digits in a quarter, including the championship contest, when they held Duquesne to just five points on 1-of-19 shooting (0-of-7 from deep) in the fourth quarter to complete their comeback.
Washington was tabbed to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team for the second year in a row. She ranks 12th in the A-10 in scoring (13.4 ppg) and sixth in rebounding (8.7 rpg), as well as fourth in field goal percentage (.504) and seventh in blocked shots (1.3 bpg). She is the fourth player in program history with 1,000 points, 800 rebounds and 100 blocks.
Jones and grad student Lauren Chase each earned spot on both the All-Conference Second Team and All-Defensive Team. Jones, the 2015 A-10 Player and Defensive Player of the Year, has posted 17 double-doubles in 22 games played this season and leads the nation in rebounding (14.7 rpg) while ranking fourth in the A-10 in scoring (16.0 ppg) and second in blocks (3.1 bpg). After missing the final 10 games of the regular season with a shoulder injury, she returned for the league tournament and averaged 10.7 points, 14.0 rebounds and 4.0 blocks in three games. She ranks third all-time at GW with 948 rebounds and surpassed the 1,000 mark for her career (first 80 came at Clemson) in the A-10 semifinals against VCU.
Chase ranks fourth in the A-10 and 16th nationally in assists (6.0 apg), and she is sixth in the conference in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.6). She averaged 9.0 points and 7.7 assists per game in three Atlantic 10 Championship contests, and her career-high 191 assists in 2015-16 rank fourth on GW's single-season list. Chase is just the fifth player in A-10 history to earn a spot on an all-conference team, as well as the all-defensive and all-academic squads in the same season since the conference created the All-Defensive Team in 2001-02.
GW's 26 wins this season are tied for the fifth-most in program history, as the Colonials have topped the 20-win plateau for the 20th time since 1990-91. GW's 78 combined wins since 2013-14 match the second-highest total over a three-year span in program history.
Friday's game marks the second-ever meeting between GW and Kansas State, but the teams have not met since the 1995 San Juan Shootout, a 69-45 GW victory. It will also be GW's first game against a Big 12 opponent since facing Texas A&M on Jan. 3, 2009.
Kansas State earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament, making their first appearance since 2012 and their 14th overall. The Wildcats are 11-13 all-time in the NCAA Tournament.
Kansas State tied for sixth in the Big 12 regular-season standings and fell to No. 3 seed West Virginia, 74-65, in the quarterfinals of the Big 12 Championship. Megan Deines scored a game-high 22 points for the Wildcats, while Kindred Wesemann had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds. The Wildcats enter Friday's game having lost three in a row and seven of their last 11 after starting the season 10-1.
First-Team All-Big 12 and All-Defensive Team selection Breanna Lewis is the third-leading scorer in the Big 12, averaging 16.7 points per game, while ranking seventh in the conference in rebounding (7.5 rpg), fourth in field goal percentage (.554) and third in blocked shots (2.5 bpg). Wesemann was tabbed to the All-Big 12 Second Team after leading the league in 3-pointers made per game (2.7) and ranking seventh in 3-point percentage (.404), as she averages 12.5 points per contest.
As a team, Kansas State leads the Big 12 in steals (9.2 spg) and ranks second in 3-pointers (7.1 per game) and fourth in 3-point percentage (.328).
