Tuesday, March 3
Washington, DC
7 p.m.
George Washington University
vs
No. 9 Richmond
Women's Basketball Hosts No. 9 Richmond in A-10 First Round Tuesday
3/2/2020 2:48:00 PM | Women's Basketball
Colonials and Spiders reunite three days after regular season finale
WASHINGTON - GW women's basketball opens up postseason play as the No. 8 seed in the Atlantic 10 Championship, hosting No. 9 Richmond on Tuesday at 7 p.m.
POSTSEASON MINUTIAE: The winner of Tuesday's matchup will advance to the A-10 Quarterfinals and face No. 1 seed Dayton on Friday at 11 a.m. at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio ... The Colonials are 44-30 all-time in 37 A-10 Championships and have won seven tournament titles, most recently in 2018 ... The Buff & Blue are 3-0 all-time against Richmond in postseason play, last meeting in 2013, coincidentally in the 8 vs. 9 game.
IT'S A MATCH!: GW is 3-1 since switching to a starting lineup that features four first-years (Faith Blethen, Essence Brown, Tori Hyduke, Mayowa Taiwo) and graduate student Alexandra Maund. The group has coalesced into the most dominant fivesome for the Colonials this year, outscoring opponents by 40 points in their time on the floor.
In the last four games, the group has been on the floor together for 62:42 and dominated foes, 104-64, which averages out to a +25 advantage over 40 minutes. Remarkably, the quintet had played just a combined 3:37 together in the first 25 games.
DOMINANT DEFENSE: Thanks to its starting five allowing roughly a point per minute, the Colonials have held four of their last five opponents to 57 points or fewer, culminating in an A-10-low 40 vs. Richmond Saturday. As a result, GW has risen to seventh in the league by allowing just 59.7 ppg, a mark that ranks 71st nationally.
The Buff & Blue have been even better in league play, limiting opponents to 56.9 ppg, the fourth-best mark in the circuit.
OFFENSE COMING ALIVE: GW scored at least 70 points in two of its last three games, doing so in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 4 and 8, 2017. During the current three-game winning streak, the Colonials are shooting 50.7 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.
The Buff & Blue set season-bests in assists in back-to-back games (21 vs. Duquesne, 23 vs. URI), and are averaging 18.3 per game in the three wins. GW's rebounding has stood out as well with a +8.0 margin over the last three, including outrebounding the league's top squad (Rhode Island) by nine on Tuesday.
HISTORY VS. RICHMOND: The Colonials and Spiders meet for the second straight game following GW's 50-40 win on Saturday. GW snapped a two-game skid against the Spiders with the triumph, improving to 26-12 all-time in the series and 12-6 all-time at home against Richmond. The Colonials last played consecutive games against a conference foe in 2016, beating George Mason in the regular season finale (73-66) and the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament (78-48).
A LOOK AT THE SPIDERS: Richmond dropped its final two games of the regular season to fall out of hosting position and into a tie for ninth in the final A-10 regular season standings. The Spiders had an up-and-down conference season, starting 0-4 then winning seven of 10 before dropping their last two contests. Richmond's 40 points on Saturday was its lowest output of the season.
The Spiders are led by a pair of double-digit performers in Jaide Hines-Clarke (11.7 ppg) and Claire Holt (11.1). GW held the duo to a combined 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting on Saturday. Offensively, UR was held to 58.7 ppg in conference play due to a problem with turnovers, as the Spiders commit 16.4 per game against A-10 competition, the second-worst mark in the league. Defensively, Richmond was ninth in the league in A-10 play, yielding 61.6 ppg.
POSTSEASON MINUTIAE: The winner of Tuesday's matchup will advance to the A-10 Quarterfinals and face No. 1 seed Dayton on Friday at 11 a.m. at UD Arena in Dayton, Ohio ... The Colonials are 44-30 all-time in 37 A-10 Championships and have won seven tournament titles, most recently in 2018 ... The Buff & Blue are 3-0 all-time against Richmond in postseason play, last meeting in 2013, coincidentally in the 8 vs. 9 game.
IT'S A MATCH!: GW is 3-1 since switching to a starting lineup that features four first-years (Faith Blethen, Essence Brown, Tori Hyduke, Mayowa Taiwo) and graduate student Alexandra Maund. The group has coalesced into the most dominant fivesome for the Colonials this year, outscoring opponents by 40 points in their time on the floor.
In the last four games, the group has been on the floor together for 62:42 and dominated foes, 104-64, which averages out to a +25 advantage over 40 minutes. Remarkably, the quintet had played just a combined 3:37 together in the first 25 games.
DOMINANT DEFENSE: Thanks to its starting five allowing roughly a point per minute, the Colonials have held four of their last five opponents to 57 points or fewer, culminating in an A-10-low 40 vs. Richmond Saturday. As a result, GW has risen to seventh in the league by allowing just 59.7 ppg, a mark that ranks 71st nationally.
The Buff & Blue have been even better in league play, limiting opponents to 56.9 ppg, the fourth-best mark in the circuit.
OFFENSE COMING ALIVE: GW scored at least 70 points in two of its last three games, doing so in consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 4 and 8, 2017. During the current three-game winning streak, the Colonials are shooting 50.7 percent from the floor and 40.4 percent from beyond the arc.
The Buff & Blue set season-bests in assists in back-to-back games (21 vs. Duquesne, 23 vs. URI), and are averaging 18.3 per game in the three wins. GW's rebounding has stood out as well with a +8.0 margin over the last three, including outrebounding the league's top squad (Rhode Island) by nine on Tuesday.
HISTORY VS. RICHMOND: The Colonials and Spiders meet for the second straight game following GW's 50-40 win on Saturday. GW snapped a two-game skid against the Spiders with the triumph, improving to 26-12 all-time in the series and 12-6 all-time at home against Richmond. The Colonials last played consecutive games against a conference foe in 2016, beating George Mason in the regular season finale (73-66) and the quarterfinals of the A-10 tournament (78-48).
A LOOK AT THE SPIDERS: Richmond dropped its final two games of the regular season to fall out of hosting position and into a tie for ninth in the final A-10 regular season standings. The Spiders had an up-and-down conference season, starting 0-4 then winning seven of 10 before dropping their last two contests. Richmond's 40 points on Saturday was its lowest output of the season.
The Spiders are led by a pair of double-digit performers in Jaide Hines-Clarke (11.7 ppg) and Claire Holt (11.1). GW held the duo to a combined 14 points on 5-of-17 shooting on Saturday. Offensively, UR was held to 58.7 ppg in conference play due to a problem with turnovers, as the Spiders commit 16.4 per game against A-10 competition, the second-worst mark in the league. Defensively, Richmond was ninth in the league in A-10 play, yielding 61.6 ppg.
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