Game 7: Women’s at Kentucky

The Colonials travel to Lexington to take on the University of Kentucky wildcats in their second game in this weekend road swing the the bluegrass state. Antelia Parrish leads GW in points rebounds and assists. On another impressive note Freshman Tara Booker through three games is shooting 8-10 from beyond the arc and 12-18 from the field overall. 

GW looks to rebound from its eight point loss to Western Kentucky on Friday. Kentucky went 17-16 (8-6) in the SEC last season and is 1-1 through two games this year, they lost to Michigan 70-60 and beat Cincinnati 58-55. GW defeated Kentucky 75-65 last year in Foggy Bottom. Jessica Adair posted a career high 29 points and snagged 14 boards. Adair, a preseason Wooden Award candidate, is averaging 11.3 points per game down from her 15.2 last year. 

Important notes from the Western Kentucky game: 

GW struggled with the Lady Topper’s trap turning the ball over on their own side of the court all too often. Western Kentucky scored 22 points off turnovers in comparison with GW’s nine. Kentucky likes to employ the same strategy so it will be important for the relatively inexperienced Colonial guards, Kayla Miller, Erica Rivera, and Stefani Munro to take care of the basketball, make smart passes and break the pressure. 

Kentucky is lead by sophomore forward sensation Victoria Dunlap, who is averaging a shade over 20 points per game. She is the only Wildcat scoring in double figures. 

The game has a 2 p.m. start time tomorrow.

Western Kentucky Women’s Recap

BOWLING GREEN KY- With the big red blob out in full force, GW couldn’t quite topple the lady toppers. 

After a big three point play from Western Kentucky guard  Kenzie Rich, Antelia Parrish answered with a big three pointer to cut the lead to 64-60 with just over two and a half minutes to go. However, Western Kentucky went on a 6-0 and ended up with the win 72-64. 

Antelia Parish and Jessica Adair led GW in scoring with 13 points apiece, but foul trouble kept both players out for a substantial portion of the second half. In spite of the fact that Western Kentucky had foul problems of its own, both teams were in the bonus by the seven minute mark, GW shot just 12-20 from the foul line.

For Western Kentucky the story of the game was guard Kenzie Rich, who dropped 22 points on the Colonials including four threes. GW looked on many occasions that they were going to make a push for the lead in the second half, but missed free throws, layups, and ill advised fouls ultimately sunk GW.

No Auburn Broadcast

We regret to inform you, that there will be no WRGW broadcast for the Men’s game @ Auburn this Saturday. Make sure to tune in tomorrow afternoon at 1:40 PM when WRGW will have live coverage from Lexington as Ben Toder and Alex Tainsh bring you all the coverage from Rupp Arena for the GW Women’s game against the Kentucky Wildcats.

Game 6: Women vs. Western Kentucky

After a convincing victory Monday night against Coppin St. 77-36, the Colonials look to get their two-game Kentucky road-trip started off on the right foot as they travel to Bowling Green to face the Lady Hilltoppers of Western Kentucky at 8 P.M. EST.

It was a balanced offensive attack that demoralized Coppin St. earlier this week with six Colonials scoring eight or more points including freshman Kay Kay Allums who led GW with 12 points off the bench.

Western Kentucky will face its third-straight 2008 NCAA opponent to begin the year having already defeated Murray St., while falling to the nationally ranked Vanderbilt Commodores. The Lady Toppers are led by reigning Sun Belt freshman of the year, Arnika Brown who scored 27 points and grabbed 17 rebounds against MSU earlier this season.

Listen at WRGW tonight at 7:40 for your Colonials pre-game show before we send it out to Kentucky where Ben Toder and Alex Tainsh will have the call. Mallory Thompson and Max Feinblatt will be handling production duties.

Game 5: Women vs. Coppin State

Mike Bozeman’s 1-0 George Washington Colonials will take on the Coppin State Eagles after a come-from-behind 75-56 victory over UMBC on Saturday afternoon.  This is the shortest amount of rest between games the Colonials will get all season having just one day to recover from a tough UMBC squad led by Carlee Cassidy’s career-high 31 points.  GW was led by a combination of experience and young talent that will likely be a harbinger for the rest of the season.  Antelia Parrish was just four assists shy of the third triple-double in school history with 19 points and 10 rebounds and Jess Adair was a rebound shy of a double-double with 15 points and 9 boards.  However, it was the freshmen Tara Booker and Tiana Myers who ignited the Colonials offense during their first half struggles closing the half on a 27-9 run before pulling away in the second half.  The following are some game notes for tonight’s matchup against the Eagles.

GW looks to start 2-0 for the third consecutive season tonight…The Colonials have won both previous meetings against Coppin State by an average of 37.5 points…The Eagles are the defending MEAC champions posting a 22-12 record last season and qualifying for their third NCAA tournament in four seasons…Coppin State will be relying on their front court after losing all-MEAC first team guards Rashida Suber and Shalamar Oakley who combined for 35 points per game last year…CSU will be anchored by pre-season all-MEAC selections Whitney Cunningham and Danielle Anders who averaged a combined 24 points and 13.5 rebounds per game last season.

The game will be broadcast live on WRGW, gwradio.com starting with the pre-game show at 7:10 in preparation for a 7:30 tip.  Adam Rosenbloom will be providing play-by-play and Mallory Thompson will be making her broadcasting debut as color for the game.  Scott Trocchia and myself, Greg Shapiro, will be producing from the ground floor of the Marvin Center providing your pre-game, half-time, and post-game shows.  Keep it here for your game updates.

This will be GW’s last game at home before heading to Kentucky this weekend where they will face Western Kentucky on Friday at 8 and Kentucky on Sunday at 2.  Ben Toder and Alex Tainsh will have the call.

7:55 It’s been all Colonials in the first 10 minutes of this game as they are firing on all cylinders to lead it 29-9 with about 10 minutes to play.  They have just gone on a 10-0 run and are led by Jazmine Adair’s 8 points.

8:40 The Colonials went into half-time doubling Coppin State’s score with a 42-21 lead going into the locker rooms.  They picked up where they left off in the first few minutes of the second half going on a 9-0 run to take a 51-21 lead.  Jazmine Adair leads the way for the Colonials with 10 points.  Parrish leads in rebounds and assists with 6 and 4, respectively, to go with her 9 points.  The key for GW throughout this game has been their ability to take care of the ball, committing only 3 turnovers the first half, which has been a big focus for Bozeman’s young team.  Nearly every Colonial checked out into the game in the first half and 9 players logged 5 minutes or more.

Game 4: GW Women vs. UMBC

The Mike Bozeman era officially begins today for the Colonials as his squad takes on the Retrievers of Maryland – Baltimore County today at 2 PM at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center. Bozeman’s team is coming off a disappointing home exhibition loss to the DT III All-Stars 71-66 and he is hoping that the tune-up allowed him to see what does and does not work on both sides of the ball. The pre-season matchup was marred by GW’s inability to control the basketball as they turned the ball over a whopping 28 times in the game. The Colonials also allowed DT III to get to the free-throw line 26 times while only attempting six shots from the charity stripe themselves.

There were some positives for GW in the exhbition. Jessica Adair imposed her will on the smaller DT III front-court scoring 15 points and grabbing nine rebounds while looking unstoppable in the paint. Freshman Kay Kay Allums also looked good for the Colonials scoring nine points in a losing effort.

Today GW will look to get Adair as well as Antelia Parrish going early against a UMBC team that lost to the Colonials last season at the RAC Arena in Baltimore 79-59. That game saw Parrish begin her collegiate career by scoring 17 points and grabbing eight rebounds in the victory.

UMBC returns seven starters including Pre-season All-Conference selection Carlee Cassidy who led all scorers in last year’s game with 24 points. Cassidy led the America East conference in scoring last season at a 17.0 PPG clip and will look to score early and often for head coach Phil Stern. UMBC also returns their lone senior Chantay Frazier and America East all-rookie selection Megan Collabella to the Smith Center in addition to seven freshman and a JUCO transfer Tonishea Mack.

Tipoff is at 2 PM and WRGW will have you covered all afternoon. Scott Trocchia and Perry Goldman have the call from the Smith Center while Adam Rosenbloom and Andrew Thal will handle production duties at the WRGW studios. You can click here to listen to all the action on WRGW today.

2:04 P.M. EST - Here are your starting lineups for today’s game:

For UMBC-

G- # 5 Carlee Cassidy

G- #21 Michele Brokans

G- #20 Michelle Kurowski

F- #30 Erin Brown

F- #10 Megan Colabella

For GW -

G- #22 Stefani Munro

G- #5 Tiana Myers

F- #13 Antelia PArrish

F- #34 Ivy Abiona

C- #1 Jessica Adair

2:31 P.M. EST - UMBC has gotten off to a quick start thanks to the red-hot shooting of the leading scorer in the America East conference Carlee Cassidy who is putting on a shooting clinic here at Charles E. Smith Athletic Center. Cassidy sparked an early 21-3 Retriever run to give UMBC a double-digit lead early, but the youth movement led by Tara Booker and Tiana Myers has brought GW back within seven points with under eight minutes remaining in the first-half.

3:20 P.M. EST - The Colonials have finally found their flow offensively and have jumped out to a three-point lead in the second half doubling the Retrievers 34-17 in points since the midway point in the first-half. Jessica Adair has had her way in the paint against the much smaller UMBC defenders as she leads the Colonials with 13 points and seven rebounds. Tiana Myers and Antelia Parrish each have eight points as Mike Bozeman’s team has used a balanced offensive attack to counter-act the barrage of three-point shots made by UMBC. Carlee Cassidy has cooled off significantly but she still has 26 points, one off of her career-high.

5:30 P.M. EST – The Colonials start the year off with a strong come-from-behind victory, defeating the Retrievers 75-56 behind 19 points and 10 rebounds from Antelia Parrish and 15 and nine from Jessica Adair. The key to the game was that GW was able to wear down Phil Stern’s spread offense and Bozeman’s squad ended both halves on 27-9 and 31-11 runs respectively. A good win for the Colonials’ freshmen as Tara Booker and Tiana Myers look as though they will become mainstays here at GW and Kay Kay Allums is going to be a very solid Colonial for years to come as well.

Keep it here for all your Colonials action as our next game will be Monday evening at 7:30 P.M. when the women’s team hosts Coppin St. right here at the Smith Center.

Game 3: Men’s at Boston University

The GW men’s basketball season kicks off its official start on the road in Beantown Friday night as the Colonials face the Boston University Terriers for the fourth straight season.  The game will tip at 7 p.m. est from the Agganis Arena in Boston.  The Colonials are fresh off a 101-71 exhibition victory against the West Georgia Wolves.  Although you can’t take away too much from a pre-season exhibition, a few important points should be noted from the game.  One is the overall effectiveness of GW on the offensive end that was unseen nearly all of last season.  They shot 52.9 % for the game and were 9 for 18 from 3-point territory.  They had a balanced scoring attack led by Damian Hollis’s 18 points, Xavier Alexander’s 17, and Rob Diggs’s 16.  When asked who had the best game, Coach Hobbs’ immediate answer was Alexander who had 11 rebounds (led team), 5 assists, 2 blocks, and 2 steals to go with his 17 points.  The stat that has coaches, players, and fans breathing a long sigh of relief was his free throw shooting, hitting 7 of 11 from the line, a vast improvement from his 43 % of last season.  The overall style of play was reminiscent of the historic 2005-06 team whose pressure defense and run-and-gun offense led to quick baskets.  They forced 23 West Georgia turnovers who never led in the game.  The following are some game notes for GW-BU.

GW leads the all-time series against BU 15-1 and are 1-0 at the Agganis Arena, opening their 2006-07 season there with a 70-57 victory…GW has won the last 9 meetings between these two teams, including a 69-56 victory at the Smith Center last season…The last time GW lost a season opener was on November 17, 2004 at No. 2 Wake Forest in the pre-season NIT…GW was picked to finish 11th in the A10 pre-season coaches and media poll…BU finished 14-17 after an injury-plagued 2007-08 season and was picked to finish first in the nine-team America East for the second straight season in 08-09…BU returns their top 7 scorers from last season, including all five starters…BU has had 6 NCAA tournament appearances…Corey Lowe is BU’s top returning scorer who averaged 18 points per game last season which was second in the conference and led the conference with a school record 92 3-pointers and is a pre-season all-America East candidate…John Holland was named the 2008 America East Rookie of the Year who was second on the team in scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (5 rpg) and led the team in steals with 44…Dennis Wolff (‘78) and Karl Hobbs (‘85) both attended UCONN and Hobbs served as an assistant at BU for 6 years under former GW coach Mike Jarvis and Bob Brown.

The game will be broadcast both on WRGW and Federal News Radio.  Tip is at 7 p.m. with a 6:40 pre-game show on WRGW.  Ben Sugarman will be handling PXP and Alex Tainsh will be providing color analysis.  Julian Gompertz and Ben (Tigre) Toder will be handling production duties.  Listen here starting at 6:40.  I, Greg Shapiro, will be covering the game with Byron Kerr on WFED.  Listen here starting at 6:50.  Check back for news and notes as game time approaches.

Game 2: Men’s exhibiton vs. West Georgia

After a disappointing 9-17 season, the GW men’s team gets its first opportunity to exorcise the on and off court demons of last season, and start anew when they host the West Georgia Wolves Saturday afternoon at 2 P.M.

In the pre-season tune-up, much of the focus will be on Colonials PG Travis King who is making his much anticipated return from a season-ending patella injury that has kept him out of action for almost a year to the day (11-14-07 vs. Boston Univ). King claims he is at 80% for the beginning of the year, but he will be relied on to lead the team both on and off the court throughout the season.

In addition to King, GW returns starters Rob Diggs, Wynton Witherspoon and Damian Hollis in addition to Noel Wimore and Xavier Alexander who should all contribute to the Colonials success this season. Diggs was named to the Pre-season Atlantic-10 second team, while Witherspoon and Hollis will both be relied on to contribute offensively for a team that is playing without Maureece Rice, Cheyenne Moore and Miles Beatty who were all dismissed from the program in the past year. GW also welcomes three freshman: Tony Taylor, Aaron Ware and Matt Albritton who will be relied upon to bring scoring, defense and character to this program in a season that Coach Hobbs has dubbed “a rebuilding year.”

The Colonials Opponent West Georgia is a Division II school in the Gulf South Conference coached by Michael Cooney. The Wolves are led by preseason Gulf South second team guard Doug Daniels who led all scorers in West Georgia’s first exhibition game against D-1 foe Jacksonville St. with 23 points on (5-6 from behind-the-arc). While the Wolves lost 83-76, they competed fiercely against the Ohio Valley squad and boasts a roster full of former D-1 athletes. Center Jesse Oglesby played last season for the Marshall Thundering Herd in Conference-USA, Chris-Miller Williams was a member of the South Carolina St. squad and Chris Colvin played for Southeastern Louisiana last year.

The game is scheduled to start at 2 P.M. EST at the Charles E. Smith Athletic Center and be sure to tune in to www.gwradio.com at 1:40 for your GW Basketball pre-game show. Scott Trocchia and Nick Provazza will have the call while Max Feinblatt, Robinson Lynn and Ben Toder will be handling production duties from the WRGW studios.  Make sure to keep it here for all your live updates from the Smith Center tomorrow afternoon!

Game 1: Women’s exhibition vs. DT3 All-Stars

Basketball returns to the Smith Center tonight as the new-look women’s basketball team led by head coach, Mike Bozeman, faces off in their lone pre-season game against the DT3 All-Stars tonight at 7:30 p.m. in the Smith Center.  This is a great opportunity for the Colonials to hone their skills at home before the season begins.  Although there is not much information available on DT3, the following are some game notes for tonight.

GW returns two starters — seniors Jessica Adair and Antelia Parrish — and eight letterwinners from last year’s 27-7 team that reached the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16 for the second consecutive season…The Colonials were chosen to finish second — behind two-time defending conference champion Xavier — in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll after sharing the 2008 regular-season title with Temple…GW received 7 votes in the pre-season AP Poll…DT3’s roster consists of several former collegiate players with ties to the DC Metro area and Bozeman. Kalika France (Purdue ‘08) and Crystal Washington (Maryland ‘04) both played for Bozeman during his tenure at Bishop McNamara High School. Deanna Price (Elizabeth City State ‘06) attended Anacostia High, the alma mater of GW seniors Jessica Adair and Jazmine Adair and Dawn Chriss (Virginia Tech ‘06) starred at St. John’s College High in Northwest DC…GW officially opens the 2008-09 season by hosting Maryland-Baltimore County (UMBC) Saturday, Nov. 15, at 2:00 pm. This year’s schedule features 17 home dates and 13 opponents that qualified for postseason play last season, including two-time defending national champion Tennessee Tuesday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 pm.

I apologize for the lack of information on DT3 but I will be sure to update the blog if more information becomes available.  The game will be broadcast live on www.gwradio.com starting with the pre-game show at 7:10.  Check the blog during the game for live notes and post-game audio.  Stuart Grimes will be calling the action with Eric Struening providing color analysis.  Evan Waxman and Ali Toumadj will be producing the game from the studios.

7:30 Believe it or not, the 2008-09 basketball season at the Smith Center is upon us and we will have all the coverage on gwradio.com and right here where I will be live blogging all the action.  The line-ups have just been announced.

For GW:

G Erica Rivera

G Lisa Steele

F Antelia Parrish

F Ivy Abiona

C Jessica Adair

For DT3:

G LaQuita Owens

G Jody Burrows

F Kalika France

F Latreece Bagley

C Valarie Muneoke

With that, we are ready for the tip.  Check back for updates on the early action.

7:47  Both teams are trading baskets early in this game.  Jess Adair and Kalika France each have 4 points and seem to be settling themselves inside.  Off a fast break, Lisa Steele was able to get open off a screen and hit a 3-pointer to give GW an 8-7 lead with 15:30 remaining.

7:53 GW seems to really be missing the offensive playcalling of Kim Beck, the slashing firepower of Sarah-Jo Lawrence, and the aggression of Whitney Allen.  GW trails 16-12 with 11:23 remaining.  Their defense has been keeping them in the game but one has to wonder when DT3 will start hitting from the field.  They are just 6 of 16 from the field while GW is 6 of 14.  GW has been dominating on the boards, a stat they struggled to maintain last year as they were 9th in the conference in defensive rebounding.  Coach Bozeman has stressed the importance of rebounding to make up for the lack of experience and it’s showing.

8:09 As expected, DT3 has started to get comfortable shooting as they now lead the Colonials 26-20 with 6:30 remaining.   The zone has been fairly effective at stopping the All-Stars but they can’t seem to find any answer on the offensive end.  The point guard-by-committee approach is resulting in GW looking a bit confused offensively.  Erica Rivera and the freshman, Kay-Kay Allums, have looked sharp but they can’t seem to find a rhythm.

8:15 With under 5 minutes in the game, Coach Bozeman has employed the trap which DT3 has been breaking with relative ease.  Freshman Tiana Myers from Maryland has been playing aggressive defense but she gets pulled from the game in favor of Allums in the waning minutes of the first half.  As the half closes out, GW has been continually bailed out by aggressive defense.  Coach Bozeman has faired well in his first test of the season weathering the storm.  Despite being down 6 and looking lost offensively, Bozeman continued to rally the troops down the stretch and kept morale high.  GW heads into the locker rooms trailing 35-33.

8:35 The early minutes of this second half will be a good basis to see Bozeman’s half-time coaching adjustments after a lackluster first half.  They need to find an answer for Kalika France who paced the team in points and rebounds with 14 and 4, respectively.  Jess Adair has been the ray of light for the Colonials in the first half with 11 points and 6 rebounds.

8:42 Tiana Myers’s first shot in a GW uniform connects from 3 point land to answer Laquita Owens’ three-pointer to start the second half.  Both teams look more comfortable offensively in the early minutes as DT3 leads 42-39 with 17 minutes to play.

8:48 The full-court press that was employed by Bozeman in the final minutes of the first half is being used here in the second half and is beginning to frustrate DT3.  It is very similar to the McKeown’s famous Blizzard defense that relies on backcourt pressure and a tight 2-3 matchup zone.  However, as GW is able to get stops defensively, they can’t seem to answer on the offensive end.  DT3 leads 45-41 with 14:50 to play.

8:57 Momentum has began to swing in the Colonials’ favor.  During a 13-2 run in the last 7 minutes, GW has taken a 52-47 lead, their first lead in the game since their 10-9 lead just 5 minutes into the game.  Stifling defense and offensive efficiency have contributed with the continued brilliant play of Allums.

9:08 Momentum swings back into DT3’s favor, going on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 55.  During the last 8 minutes of the game, it will be interesting to see who steps up for this GW team with the absence of Beck and Lawrence, the playmakers of the last four years.

9:12 Coming out of the timeout, Coach Bozeman drew a great play to get the ball into Jazmine Adair.  With both Adairs in at the same time now, GW is trying to control the tempo of the game by establishing inside with the twins.  They are dominating the boards with 42 to DT3’s 27.  But turnovers have killed the Colonials’ momentum, committing 26 in the game.  Not happy with the sloppy play, Bozeman has taken a timeout to straighten out the play during the last 4 minutes.  GW leads 59-56 with 3:30 to play.

9:21 We have a nailbiter in the Smith Center.  With 1:41 to play, DT3 has gone on an 8-2 run to take a 64-61 lead.  On the floor in crunch time, Munro, Allums, Parrish, Abiona, and Jess Adair look to get back in this game.

9:33 Despite a valiant effort by the Colonials, they lose this won to the DT3 All-Stars 71-66.  DT3 was led in scoring by the 20 points of their forward Kalika France, who was coached at Bishop McNamara by Mike Bozeman.  GW’s only player in double figures was Jess Adair who had 15 points and 9 rebounds.  Parrish and Abiona also had 9 rebounds each and Jaz Adair had 8.  Post-game audio to follow.

10:30 Post-game audio of Jessica Adair and Mike Bozeman

Men’s open practice

5:05 At 5 p.m., Karl Hobbs opened up the doors to his practice to the public.  It appears to be business as usual for the Colonials.  Hobbs started practice with a fast break drill starting with a free throw and the defense running the break off the rebound.  Interesting to see how the offense seems to run with equal efficiency with both Travis King and Tony Taylor running the offense.  The emphasis in this drill appears to be communication.  Switching defenders and calling out screens is an improvement that this GW team has made clear in this pre-season.

5:27  The team is now running some set plays both from half court and baseline in-bounds plays.  Working with screens off the ball and creating for teammates seems to be a key theme.  As Hobbs asked everyone to bring the ball in, there seemed to be a high level of enthusiasm and hustle.  There seems to be a good rapport buliding between the players and as Hobbs addresses the crowd, “good chemistry” this season will be the key to a successful season this year.  The second reason for Hobbs’ enthusiasm going into this season is that the team is “returning to their GW style of play.”  He is now fielding questions from the crowd of 50 or so on hand for today’s practice.

5:46  When asked about how the leadership will emerge this season, Hobbs talked about changing around the locker room arrangement.  He has put every freshman next to a senior and expects both Wynton Witherspoon and Noel Wilmore to help Rob Diggs as far as the senior leadership position goes.  Having starting point guard, Travis King, returning to the line-up will obviously put the offense back on the right track and won’t have to rely on a point guard-by-committee approach that was employed last year until finding Johnny Lee midway through the conference season.  He anticipates freshman, Tony Taylor from Steppanack, NY, to have an immediate impact relieving King off the bench while he is on the mend from last year’s season-ending ankle injury.

5:52  When asked about the lack of quality opponents on this year’s non-conference schedule, Hobbs stressed how difficult it is to get big-name schools to play in the Smith Center due to its reputation as being an extremely tough place to play.  He also discussed how the lacking facilities at the Smith Center in comparison to GW’s competition have made it difficult for GW to secure top recruits.

That concludes our coverage of the GW men’s open practice.  The team will open up their season on the road against Boston University on November 14 after playing West Georgia on November 8 in their lone exhibition game.  Check back for news and notes.