CINCINNATI, March 4 – With the GW women’s basketball team’s early exit from the Atlantic 10 tournament, questions begin to arise as to where the Colonials will be placed in the NCAA tournament, which is set to begin March 17. The selection committee announces its decision March 12.

The tournament committee has not been kind to the Colonials in the past. Two seasons ago, when GW was a nine-seed, it lost to top-seeded North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the second round. Last year, the Colonials had to beat Old Dominion University on its home court in Norfolk, Va., before losing to Tennessee, a two-seed.

After his team’s 57-55 loss to Saint Joseph’s Sunday afternoon in the semifinals of the Atlantic 10 tournament, coach Joe McKoewn expressed his thoughts on the tournament committee’s treatment of his team in the tournament.

“Over the years we’ve gotten beat in the finals many times and then been left out of the tournament,” McKeown said. “Maybe we need to win this tournament to get to the next one.”

While it’s safe to say that his team will be included in this year’s big dance, its seeding is hard to predict. ESPN.com’s women’s basketball pundit Charlie Cr?me had the Colonials as a three seed in his most recent prediction, which came out a little less than a week ago. The loss to Saint Joe’s could, and most likely will, drop GW to a fourth seed or maybe even lower.

Regardless of where the Colonials end up, junior Kim Beck said that her team’s loss in the semifinals of the A-10 tournament will serve as motivation when the NCAA tournament arrives.

“We’re not done. We’ll try to make a run in the NCAA tournament,” Beck said. “(The loss adds) fuel to the fire. We’ll clean up everything we need to clean up and hopefully try to make a run.”

-Joanna Shapes