The women’s basketball banquet was last night, and Alex Byers and I were both invited. The event was held in the City View room at 1957 E Street, which offers a nice panorama of some of the monuments and downtown D.C.

The banquet lasted a couple hours and included a full dinner, awards presentations and a video montage of the whole season, which can be found on gwsports.com.

The winners of the awards were, for the most part, not surprising. Senior Kim Beck, who was conspicuously absent because she is in Seattle working out for the WNBA’s Storm, was named the team’s MVP and also took home the award for strength and conditioning. Classmate Sarah-Jo Lawrence was the academic player of the year and senior Whitney Allen the defensive player of the year for the second straight season. Junior Jazmine Adair won the most improved award, classmate Jamila Bates took home the unsung hero award and sophomore Ivy Abiona, who was sidelined the whole season with a knee injury, was given the courage award. Freshman Erica Rivera was named the newcomer of the year.

Senior Lora Mitchell, who won the unsung hero award the past two seasons, was named the Abbie Oliver Smith award recipient. Unlike all the other awards, in which the names pretty much explain the award, the Abbie Oliver Smith award is given to someone who displays the intangibles, such as a positive attitude, strong leadership skills and a good work ethic.

The seniors who were there also each spoke at the end. They all talked about how much their teammates and coaches mean to them and Lawrence spoke on behalf of Beck. The four as a unit won 101 games in their tenure, including four regular season Atlantic 10 conference championships, four NCAA tournament berths and two Sweet 16 appearances.