This post was written by Hatchet staff writer Matt Cullen.
What: Women’s Basketball (13-3, 3-0 A-10) vs. La Salle (3-12, 0-3 A-10)
Where: The Smith Center, Washington, D.C.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m. EST
Coming off eight successive victories, the Colonials sit at third overall in the A-10, in a three-way tie for most conference victories.
Coming off three successive losses, the Explorers sit at 14th in the A-10, last among all conference teams.
Wednesday night will be the time to tell if rankings and records are simply numbers, or accurate projections of future outcomes.
The last time that these two teams saw each other the Colonials pulled off a decisive victory. They led all but 27 seconds at the beginning of the game and won by 19 despite a tepid 27.5 percent clip from the field.
Here’s what to expect from the game:
The Case for the Colonials: So far this season, the Colonials have been the much better team. They have defeated a ranked team in Iowa, secured many convincing wins, and have not yet lost a game in the conference.
Not only have the Explorers not accomplished those things, but also they do not have a player performing like senior forward Jonquel Jones. She has been on a tear all season, leading the nation in rebounding (15.2 rpg) while still scoring 17.2 points per game. Jones was recently selected as A-10 Player of the Week after averaging 21 points and 16 rebounds over GW’s previous two games.
Their frontcourt was on display in Sunday’s matchup against Dayton with junior forward Caira Washington and sophomore forward Kelli Prange combining for 25 points on 57 percent shooting along with Jones dropping 23 herself.
Graduate student point guard Lauren Chase has struggled a bit with turnovers in conference play, but her high paced game and tough defense are what the Colonials are looking for from their guards.
Sophomore guard Bri Cummings is a key piece to the GW defense, but the Colonials will likely be without her on Wednesday. Junior guard Shannon Cranshaw and freshman guard Mei-Lyn Bautista will be called on to step up their defense in her absence.
The Case for La Salle: The Explorers have one primary scorer in sophomore guard Amy Griffin and one primary distributor in junior guard Jasmine Alston.
Both Griffin and Alston are excellent players that the La Salle offense utilizes almost every possession. They both rarely leave the floor and end up being the difference makers in a win or a loss.
Griffin leads the team in points and rebounds averaging 17.8 and 6.9 per game, respectively. She has scored in double digits in all but one game this season, and in that she was limited to 12 minutes of playing time due to injury. Griffin has also had five games scoring over 20 points, including a career-high 31 points against Monmouth.
Alston is the other big rebounding contributor on the squad. At only 5-foot-9 she collects 5.8 rebounds per game.
La Salle does boast some size in the paint including sophomore forward Ashanti Freeland who rejects more than one block per game and at 6-foot-3 is a defensive threat close to the hoop.
The Bottom Line: The Colonials should control the boards and the tempo of play. They still have momentum on their side and the home court advantage. Barring an atrocious shooting display, GW should pick up its fourth A-10 win against the Explorers.
