Just two days after a 97-57 victory against Mount St. Mary’s, Maryland women’s basketball will return to the court on Friday when it takes on George Washington.
The Terps jumped out to a 15-0 lead against The Mount and never looked back. Five players scored in double figures, with Ieshia Small scoring a team-high 21 points. The only sore spot for Maryland was free throw shooting. The Terps shot 59 percent from the charity stripe, and have shot 56.9 percent from the foul line over their past three games.
The Colonials have been a strong mid-major team the past few years, but are only 3-6 so far in 2017. Maryland will be the sixth major conference opponent GW has played, and the Colonials have gone 1-4 in those contests. The one victory was a 61-46 win against Wisconsin, and they almost beat No. 17 South Florida last Saturday after draining 13 of 22 three-point attempts.
Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. and the game will be streamed on BTN Plus.
George Washington Colonials (3-6)
Head coach Jennifer Rizzotti is 23-16 in two seasons at George Washington. In her first season, GW won a share of the Atlantic-10 regular season championship. Before coming to Foggy Bottom, she was the head coach at Hartford for 17 years. In her time there, her teams won three conference titles and went to six NCAA tournaments. Rizzotti played at UConn from 1992-96, where she helped the Huskies win their first ever national championship in 1995 and was the 1996 Wade Trophy winner.
Players to know
Kelli Prange, senior, forward, 6’5, No. 25. Prange scores a team-high 14.1 points per game, and her 6.1 rebounds per game are second on the team. According to The GW Hatchet, GW’s student newspaper, she missed the last two games with concussion symptoms. If healthy, she could be a big help against Maryland’s undersized and—depending on whether or not Brianna Fraser plays—undermanned frontcourt. Prange attended Damascus High School in Montgomery County, where she was First Team All-Metro and helped the Hornets win the 3A state title as a senior.
Brianna Cummings, senior, guard, 5’10, No. 5. Cummings averages 13.1 points and 6.1 rebounds per game and posted a double-double in the Colonials’ last game, a 61-44 loss at Mercer. She also averages two steals a game, so she could be a handful defensively.
Kelsi Mahoney, junior, forward, 6’1, No. 1. Mahoney has come off the bench in eight of nine games this year, and averages 8.8 points and 2.6 rebounds in 22.6 minutes per game.
Neila Luma, freshman, forward, 6’0, No. 30. Luma has been GW’s best freshman this season. She’s averaged 7.1 points and a team-high 7.3 rebounds per game to start her college career, and has started all but one of the Colonials’ first nine games.
Strengths
Foul shooting. The Colonials make 79 percent of their foul shoots, which is one of the best marks in women’s basketball. If they want to keep it close, drawing fouls will be crucial.
Weaknesses
Rebounding. So far this year, GW averages an A-10 worst 32.6 rebounds per game. Maryland is not as strong a rebounding team as years past, but has still feasted on the glass against mid-major opponents.
Prediction
Maryland wins, 84-64.