Women's Basketball Opens A-10 Play with National TV Game Saturday

Saturday, January 5

Washington, D.C.

11 a.m.

George Washington University

Fordham

Women's Basketball Opens A-10 Play with National TV Game Saturday

1/3/2019 3:24:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Colonials welcome Fordham for 11 a.m. tip on CBS Sports Network

WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball begins its second season with the opening game of Atlantic 10 play on Saturday, hosting Fordham at 11 a.m. The game will be broadcast nationally on CBS Sports Network. The defending A-10 tournament champion Colonials were projected to finish in a tie for third with Fordham in the league's preseason poll behind Duquesne (1st) and Dayton (2nd).

LAST TIME OUT: GW snapped a five-game skid with a 51-38 win over Memphis to close out non-conference play. The Buff & Blue posted season bests in points allowed, opposing field goal percentage (24.0), rebounds (48), offensive rebounds (18) and second-chance points (12). The 38 points were the fewest allowed by GW in the coach Jennifer Rizzotti era (since 2016-17) and the lowest in nearly four years (Davidson, 35, Feb. 5, 2015). The 24.0 percent shot by Memphis was the second-lowest by an opponent in the Rizzotti era, bested only by the defensive performance against Dayton on Feb. 12, 2017 (20.8 percent).

QUALITY OFF THE BENCH: GW received more than half of its points on Tuesday from its bench, which provided 26 of the 51 led by Neila Luma's team-leading nine. It marked the fourth straight contest in which the Colonials' bench has scored at least 18 points, a stretch in which GW is receiving an average of 24 bench points per game. The Colonials are 3-1 when scoring at least 23 bench points this year, with the lone outlier being the season-high 32 points from reserves in a loss at William & Mary (Dec. 29).

TURNING THE PAGE: GW has used the new calendar year to refresh its season, becoming the first NCAA Division I team to win in 2019. Under Rizzotti, the singing of Auld Lang Syne has been welcomed as GW is now 27-11 from January through March compared to 15-23 in November and December. Rizzotti enters A-10 play with a 27-10 mark against conference foes in her first two years.

A JOLT FROM THE START: GW switched things up Tuesday, moving Olivia Gumbs and Maddie Loder into the starting lineup in place of Neila Luma and Sarah Overcash. Loder (7p/5r vs 4.4p/1.6r), Luma (9p/9r vs 8.9p/5.3r) and Overcash (2p/5r vs 2.8p/4.3r) responded by exceeding or matching their season averages, while Gumbs battled foul trouble and was held to two points in 11 minutes.

A LOOK AT THE RAMS: Fordham enters Saturday's A-10 opener riding a four-game winning streak with triumphs over Columbia, Iona, Maine (in overtime) and last time out against Middle Tennessee. The Rams' 9-5 overall mark is the best in the league during non-conference play and included a 6-1 mark at home as opposed to a 1-3 road record. Bre Cavanaugh is the reigning A-10 co-Player of the Week after averaging 17.0 ppg and 9.0 rpg in a pair of games last week. She leads Fordham with 18.5 ppg and is second with 6.9 rpg. The Rams make an average of 7.0 3-pointers per game, second-most in the league and are tremendous at keeping track of the ball, averaging just 10.9 turnovers, the fourth-lowest mark in the nation.