This post was written by Hatchet reporter Marty Fenn.
What: No. 24 Women’s basketball (5-1) vs. Wright State (5-2)
Where: Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, Texas.
When: Saturday, Nov. 28 at 2:30 p.m. EST
The Colonials are looking to close out the Lone Star Showcase with another win, after a marathon victory against No. 25 Iowa in double overtime Friday, with a matchup against Horizon League foe Wright State. The Raiders nearly overcame a 21-point deficit against Iowa, and have looked strong early in the season.
Case for the Colonials: The Colonials have rebounded from a disheartening loss at Stanford with three straight wins to get back on track.
Preseason Wooden Award candidate Jonquel Jones has continued her strong play, setting a GW record with 26 rebounds on Friday, and junior frontcourt mate Caira Washington put up 22 points and added 12 boards in the Colonials’ win over Houston.
GW has been particularly strong on the glass to start the year, outrebounding opponents by an average of 14.7 boards per game, and racking up 108 offensive rebounds.
The Colonials are also getting more contributions from their veteran players, as seniors Aaliyah Brown and Alexis Chandler (10 points off the bench against Houston) have seen increased playing time in recent games, providing steady contributions for GW.
Case for the Raiders: Wright State has played extremely well in the early goings, and has been very tough against power conference schools like Miami and Iowa.
A whopping 19 turnovers doomed the Raiders against Miami, while they nearly overcame a 21-point hole against the Hawkeyes.
The Raiders possess a potent offensive attack led by redshirt senior guard Kim Demmings, who averages 23.4 points and a surprising 7.1 rebounds per game despite her size as a 5-foot-8 guard.
6-foot-5 center Richelle van der Keijl provides a dominant force in the paint, averaging a near double-double of 10.6 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Aside from Demmings, the Raiders have a good distribution of scoring, with five players averaging at least 7.0 points per game. Like GW, Wright State is very strong on the glass, averaging nearly 49 rebounds per game.
Bottom line: Aside from van der Keijl, the Raiders don’t have much size inside. That being said, Demmings and the other guards love to crash the glass. To stage an upset, the Raiders would have to control the rebounding battle and get Demmings going. Look for graduate student guard Lauren Chase to be hounding Demmings defensively, and for the Colonials to dump the ball down to Jones and Washington to establish their inside presence.
