George Washington University Athletics
Women's Basketball Hosts #17 USF on Saturday
11/29/2017 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball
USF is ranked 17th in both the AP Top 25 and the USA Today's Coaches Poll entering Saturday's game ... The Bulls are off to a 6-1 start this season with their only loss coming against then No. 6 Notre Dame at last week's Gulf Coast Showcase ... Kitija Laksa is one of the top-scoring players in the nation, averaging a team-best 23.0 points per game ... Laska is on the Watch List for the Wade Trophy and the Citizen Naismith Trophy.
TIPPING OFF: The GW women's basketball team will wrap its five-game homestand on Saturday when it welcomes No. 17 USF to Charles E. Smith Center. Tipoff on Special Education Day is slated for 2 p.m.
LAST TIME OUT: GW hosted the 2017 Paradise Jam at the Charles E. Smith Center last week over the Thanksgiving holiday against a trio of power conference opponents. The Colonials secured a big win over Wisconsin on Saturday in between a pair of tightly-contested losses to Vanderbilt and Syracuse.
HELPING HAND: Junior point guard Mei-Lyn Bautista has accumulated 31 assists over the first seven games for an average of 4.4 per game. The dimes have come against just six turnovers for an Atlantic 10 leading 5.2 assist-to-turnover ratio. The ratio is also amongst the best in the nation, ranking seventh overall.
ROOKIE BREAKOUT: Freshman forward Neila Luma had a breakout weekend at the Paradise Jam when she continued her strong start to her collegiate career with three solid performances.
She averaged 8.3 points and 9.0 rebounds in the three games at the Smith Center, including a breakout scoring game of 16 points on 6-of-10 shooting, along with eight rebounds against Wisconsin.
She also secured her first double figure rebounding game with a game-high 11 boards against Syracuse on Saturday. Luma leads the Colonials in rebounding (7.9/game) entering Saturday's game.
QUALITY OPPONENTS: USF marks the second of five games GW will face that played in the NCAA Tournament last season. Other opponents include Maryland (Dec. 8), Dayton (Jan. 21/Feb. 11) and Syracuse (L, 74-62 on Nov. 25).
RANKED OPPONENTS: GW has 28 all-time wins against nationally-ranked opponents, with 17 of the victories coming inside the Smith Center.
SERIES HISTORY: South Florida leads the all-time series 2-1. The last meeting was the WNIT Quarterfinals in 2014 which saw the Bulls earn a 74-59 win at the Sun Dome in Tampa, Florida. GW's win came at home on January 28, 1991.
