Women's Basketball Set for Sunday Showdown at Duquesne

Sunday, January 27

Pittsburgh, Pa.

2 p.m.

George Washington University

Duquesne

1/25/2019 11:58:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Colonials take on second straight first-place foe at 2 p.m.

WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball heads to Pittsburgh Sunday looking for its second straight win against a team at the top of the A-10 standings, facing Duquesne at 2 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.

LAST TIME OUT: GW knocked off previously unbeaten VCU, 57-48, at the Smith Center. The Colonials were spurred by a 20-1 run between the second and third quarters when VCU was held without a field goal for over 12 minutes. Facing the nation's #2 3-point defense, GW hit 10 triples on 24 attempts (.417), six of which came from senior Mei-Lyn Bautista. The point guard accounted for all nine of GW's points in the first frame and provided the dagger triple with 1:02 left. Bautista finished with a season-high 21 points and added five assists and three steals. She had a hand in 34 of GW's 57 points on the night (59.6 percent).

A-10 PLAY IS THE TIME FOR MEI: Bautista's season-high output on Wednesday was her third straight double-digit performance, a stretch in which she has showcased her stat-stuffing ability. After averaging 5.0 ppg, 3.0 apg and 1.7 spg in the first three league games, Bautista has turned the corner by averaging 13.7 ppg, 6.7 apg, and 3.7 spg in the last three outings.

Bautista endured an 8-for-39 mini-slump (20.5 percent) to begin conference play before going 6-for-14 (42.9 percent) from the floor Wednesday. Her six 3-pointers equaled her total from the first five league games combined (6-for-23, 26.1 percent).

THIS GIRL IS ON FIRE: Although she didn't reach double figures for the first time in five games, Neila Luma still had a huge impact Wednesday with seven points and a season-best 10 rebounds. She has scored 20+ points three times in league play and is averaging 16.0 ppg, third-best in the conference.

Confidence in her shot has been the major improvement for the sophomore, who is making 6.7 field goals per game, second-most in the league (3.3 fg/gm in non-conference). She's also been hitting the shots at a much higher rate, shooting 46.5% in A-10 play as opposed to 33.9% in the non-conference slate. Luma has scored 96 points in six A-10 games after totaling 95 in 16 league games (5.9 ppg) in her first year.

LOW-DOWN ON LODER: First-year Maddie Loder was inserted into the starting lineup for the first time vs. Memphis (Jan. 1) and has seen her game transform ever since, culminating in back-to-back double-digit performances in her last two games (14 points vs. George Mason on Saturday and 12 points vs. VCU Wednesday).

Since becoming a starter, Loder has increased her output in minutes per game (33.6/18.8, +14.8), rebounds per game (5.0/1.6, +3.4), points per game (6.7/4.4, +2.3), assists per game (2.4/0.7, +1.7) and steals per game (1.4/0.5, +0.9). She's also seen her assist-to-turnover ratio change from 0.5 in the first 12 games to 1.1 in the past seven.

A LOOK AT THE DUKES: The preseason favorite to win the Atlantic 10 finds itself atop the standings in a tie with VCU six games in. The Dukes have won four straight contests, most recently knocking off La Salle, 66-62. Duquesne returned all five starters from last year's team that advanced to the third round of the WNIT. Chassidy Omogrosso and Julijana Vojinovic were named to the preseason first team and are two of Duquesne's three double-figure scorers in conference play at 10.7 ppg and 12.5 ppg, respectively. Kadri-Ann Lass, a preseason second team selection, tops the Dukes with 12.8 ppg in conference play.