Women's Basketball Opens Saturday Doubleheader with Dayton

Saturday, January 12

Washington, D.C.

12 p.m.

George Washington University

Dayton

1/11/2019 1:41:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Colonials welcome defending regular season champions at noon

WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball returns home for a bout between the A-10's two defending champions as the reigning regular season champion Dayton Flyers visit the Smith Center on Saturday at noon. The game will be streamed live on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT: GW is coming off its first A-10 win of the season, defeating Rhode Island, 64-59, on Wednesday. The Colonials utilized a 13-0 run in the fourth quarter to surge ahead for good. Sophomores Lexus Levy and Neila Luma set new career-highs with 16 and 20 points, respectively. Senior Kelsi Mahoney scored 12 points, giving GW three double-figure scorers on the night. Levy matched her career-best with four 3-pointers, three of which came in the first half. Luma returned to the starting lineup after coming off the bench the previous two games and became the first Colonial to score 20 points in a game this season.

YOUTH IS SERVED: Wednesday's win was yet another example of the Colonials' youth shining through with 45 of 64 points coming from underclassmen. Thus far this year, GW has received 61.4 percent of its points (465/757) and 69.0 percent of its rebounds (361/523) from underclassmen.

TURNING THE PAGE: GW has used the new calendar year as an opportunity to refresh its season after a difficult November and December. The Colonials have now matched their 2018 win total (2) with a pair of wins in three tries in January. Under head coach Jennifer Rizzotti, the singing of Auld Lang Syne has been welcomed as GW is now 28-12 from January through March compared to 15-23 in November and December. Rizzotti is now 28-11 against conference foes in her first two-plus years.

SHE'S HEATING UP: Lexus Levy showcased her 3-point abilities with four trifectas off the bench in the win at Rhode Island Wednesday. The sophomore has overcome an early-season shooting slump to break through recently, hitting 7-of-15 (46.7 percent) triples in the last four games and averaging 6.8 ppg in that stretch. Prior to this current streak, Levy was 2-of-20 (10.0 percent) from deep and averaged 1.4 ppg.

A LOOK AT THE FLYERS: Dayton comes in on a three-game winning streak and a perfect 2-0 in conference play after dispatching La Salle, 84-45, and Massachusetts, 75-47, both at home. The defending regular season champions have showcased tremendous balance with 12 players averaging double-figure minutes in conference play. Overall, though, its Jayla Scaife who leads the way with 15.3 ppg and 6.3 rpg. Lauren Cannatelli also averages double digits at 12.2 ppg with Julia Chandler adding in 9.5 ppg.

The Flyers possess an offense that currently ranks third in the A-10 and a defense that ranks fifth in the circuit. UD has done a masterful job at limiting opportunities from beyond the arc, ranking third in the nation in 3-point field goal defense at 21.8 percent.