Women's Basketball Unveils Banners, Welcomes Princeton Sunday

Sunday, November 11

Washington, D.C.

2 p.m.

George Washington University

Princeton

11/9/2018 1:22:00 PM | Women's Basketball

2017-18 Atlantic 10 Champions and NCAA Tournament participants will take part in pregame ceremony

WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball opens up its home campaign with a visit from Ivy League favorite Princeton on Sunday afternoon at the Smith Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. Prior to Sunday's contest, GW will honor the achievements of the 2017-18 A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament team with a pregame banner unveiling and ring ceremony.

LAST TIME OUT: The Colonials fell in their season opener at JMU on Thursday, 50-37. GW held the Dukes to 38.5 percent shooting and 26.3 percent from beyond the arc, but only shot 23.5 percent themselves and hit a trio of three's. Sophomore Neila Luma was the Colonials' top scorer with 11 points and five rebounds. Senior Mei-Lyn Bautista contributed 10 points, five steals and four assists.

ABOUT GW: The Colonials are coming off their seventh A-10 Tournament Championship and 18th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history. GW was projected to finish tied for third in the preseason poll along with Fordham. Senior Mei-Lyn Bautista was named to the preseason all-conference second team and all-defensive squad. She is one of five returnees from last year's team that is joined by seven eligible newcomers that features four first-years, two transfers and a senior walk-on.

BUFF AND BLUE DEBUTS: Of the 10 players who appeared on Thursday, five were making their Buff & Blue debut: senior Anna Savino, redshirt-sophomores Olivia Gumbs and Sarah Overcash, and first-years Maddie Loder and Kayla Mokwuah. Overcash earned her first career start after transferring in from Illinois last year.

FOR OPENERS: GW is 1-1 in home openers under third-year head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, defeating Princeton, 72-52, in her Smith Center debut in 2016 and falling in overtime to South Dakota State, 97-88, last year.

RIGOROUS SCHEDULE OUT OF THE GATE: Princeton is the second of three straight preseason favorites that GW will face to begin the campaign. JMU (Colonial), the Tigers (Ivy) and Maryland (Big Ten) were all the top pick in their respective leagues. Mercer (SoCon) represents the fourth team on the non-conference slate projected to win its league. GW joins DePaul and South Dakota State as the only teams in the nation to face three straight preseason favorites to open their respective seasons.

SENIOR LEADER AT THE POINT: Mei-Lyn Bautista emerged as one of the most efficient point guards in the nation last year, finishing 14th in assist-to-turnover ratio. Only five of the 13 players who finished above the Queens, N.Y. native return in 2018-19. Bautista is one of just three active players in the nation to appear in at least 60 games the last two years while recording over 200 assists and 100 or fewer turnovers:

	Games	Assists	Turnovers	Assist/Turnover Ratio
Kelly Campbell, DePaul	69	303	88	3.44
Mei-Lyn Bautista, GW	63	240	100	2.40
Deanna Kuzmanic, UAB	64	208	100	2.08

A LOOK AT THE TIGERS: Princeton opened its season with an 89-65 victory at Rider on Tuesday behind a career-high 25 points from Gabrielle Rush, who hit five three-pointers in the contest. The Tigers shot 55.4 percent from the floor, connected on nine threes and outrebounded Rider by 14. Carlie Littlefield added 16 points and Taylor Baur contributed 10 points and nine rebounds to give the Tigers three double-digit scorers. Princeton was without the services of preseason Ivy League Player of the Year, Bella Alarie, who suffered a broken bone in her arm during preseason practice.

Princeton enters Sunday's matchup with national recognition, receiving votes in the USA Today Coaches' Poll. The Tigers are the preseason favorite to win the Ivy League after topping the circuit last year and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.