Women's Basketball Heads to Philly for Battle with La Salle

Wednesday, January 16

Philadelphia, Pa.

5 p.m.

George Washington University

La Salle

1/15/2019 10:10:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Colonials take part in rare road doubleheader with 5 p.m. tip

WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball looks for its first three-game winning streak of the campaign as it travels to Philadelphia to take on La Salle on Wednesday at 5 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+. The game is part of a doubleheader at Tom Gola Arena as the GW men's team will take on the Explorers at 8 p.m.

LAST TIME OUT: The Buff & Blue rallied from a nine-point deficit in the third quarter to eke past Dayton, 46-45, on Saturday. Sophomore Chyna Latimer hit the eventual game-winning shot with 2:03 left as part of a season-best 12-point effort. Neither team scored after Latimer's bucket with GW coming out on top thanks to blocks on the final possession from first-year Maddie Loder and senior Kelsi Mahoney. Sophomore Neila Luma led the Colonials in scoring for the second straight game with 13 points, six of which came in the fourth quarter. The Colonials finished the game on a 15-5 run over the final 11:24 and have now utilized large second half runs to win each of their last two games (13-0 in 4Q at Rhode Island). Dayton connected on just 2-of-15 shots (13.3%) in the stretch.

NO POINTS FOR YOU...:GW's lock-down defense showed up in a big way against Dayton, holding the Flyers 22 points below their season average and to their second-lowest total of the season. It also marked the 13th time in 16 games that the Colonials have held an opponent below its season average. GW is holding teams an average of 9.5 points below their season norm on the year.

...ESPECIALLY IN THE FOURTH QUARTER: The defense has reached new heights with the game on the line in the final frame against A-10 foes, having yielded just 22 points in the first three conference games (7.3 per game). A-10 opponents have shot a combined 8-of-39 (20.5%) from the field in the fourth quarter with Fordham (4) and Dayton (5) being held to single digits. GW is +26 in the fourth frame (48-22) through three league contests and is +5 (219-214) for the year, its only quarter with a positive margin.

TRENDING IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION: After a rough journey through non-conference play, GW has been walking in a proverbial winter wonderland this January with a 3-1 mark. This should come as no surprise to those around the program as the Colonials are now 29-12 (.707) from January through March under Rizzotti compared to 15-23 (.395) in November and December. Rizzotti has now gone 29-11 (.725) against A-10 foes in her tenure as GW bench boss, the second-best mark in the league during that time (Dayton, 34-7, .839). The Colonials are responsible for three of the Flyers' seven losses in the stretch.

A LOOK AT THE EXPLORERS: La Salle has struggled to begin conference play, dropping its first three games and falling in the last five overall. Last time out, the Explorers saw UMass run away late to earn a 14-point win. La Salle has averaged just 47.7 points per conference game and yielded 75.3 ppg. Defense has been the primary issue for the Explorers during the current skid as they have allowed at least 68 points in each defeat. Deja King is the team's top scorer at 9.0 ppg, but has not appeared in conference play. Rayshel Brown has picked up the load with a team-best 10.0 ppg against A-10 competition.