Update, 2:05 p.m….The Colonials escape with a 61-53 victory behind Jess Adair’s 20 points. Some more controversy toward the end when the shot clock went off on GW’s possession and game tape had to be consulted for a good five minutes before it was decided that the desperation shot right before the buzzer hit the rim. See gwhatchet.com tomorrow for a full recap.

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Update, 1:48 p.m….GW up 48-45 with 3:50 to go. Allen picked up her fourth foul a few minutes ago. McKeown brought all his starters in about three minutes after he swapped all of them out but the plan worked for a while, as the bench did seem to add some energy to the team.

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Update, 1:19 p.m…Game tied at 24. Coach McKeown employed an interesting strategy a couple minutes ago when he subbed out his five starters (Beck, Lawrence, Jess Adair, junior Antelia Parrish and senior Whitney Allen) and put in five bench players (senior Lora Mitchell, senior Lisa Steele, sophomore Stefanie Munro, junior Jazmine Adair and freshman Erica Rivera). Things were not clicking to start the second half, so maybe McKeown thought some fresh blood on the court would add some pep to the team.
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Update, 12:53 p.m…The Colonials lead 20-18 at the half. With about25 seconds left, senior Sarah-Jo Lawrence drove down the lane and had her shot bounce a couple times before going through the hoop. A whistle blew and the GW bench and fans exploded into cheers, thinking SJL was receiving an and-1. Instead, she was charged with an offensive foul, so no basket and free throw. McKeown shot a glance across the court, looking incredulous. He has not been happy with some calls.

Adair leads all scorers with nine points. She’s the only Colonial who had more than one basket.

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Update, 12:46 p.m…Things are getting a bit physical here, as GW’s Jessica Adair and the Hawks’ Sarah Ackerman and Mary Kate McDade all received technical fouls after an altercation under GW’s basket. Adair was also issued a personal foul. There were some thrown elbows, a couple shoves and a stoppage of play for a couple of minutes while the referees tried to decide what action to take.

In other news, some of the GW fans who made the trip up (which number about 25 by my count) have brought a couple signs with them. One of them has “Kim: All-American” on one side and “Kim is Beck-sy” on the other. Creative.

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Update, 12:31 p.m…A very sloppy game from both sides so far, with the Hawks up 12-11. GW has missed a ton of shots that it usually makes and the Colonials have turned the ball over more than usual. Coach Joe McKeown does not look pleased on the sideline with his team’s play so far.

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Update, 11:53 a.m….Saint Joe’s former player Susan Moran’s jersey was just retired. The 2002 graduate is now an assistant for the women’s squad. She has a look of surprise on her face, which makes sense because she was unaware that her jersey was being retired today.

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I’m here at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse on the campus of Saint Joe’s in northwest Philadelphia, where the Colonials (21-5, 9-2 Atlantic 10) will face the Hawks (14-12, 6-5 A-10). The last time the two teams met, in the semifinals of the 2007 A-10 tournament, Saint Joe’s sent GW packing.

The Colonials are coming off a convincing 82-58 victory over Saint Louis at Smith Center. The Hawks are sitting alone in sixth place in the conference, pretty safely within the cut for the conference tournament that begins here in two weeks. They are even within striking distance of one of the coveted first-round byes, which go to the top four teams. GW has all but guaranteed itself one of those.

Alumni Memorial Field House seats 3,200 and look a lot like an older field house. It’s small but somewhat cozy. The men’s program at Saint Joe’s has always been strong but with the amount of importance that is placed on facilities when it comes to recruiting, I find it interesting that coach Phil Martelli was able to draw in Jameer Nelson, who was the National Player of the Year in 2004, eight years ago.

You can see a photo of the arena at the bottom of this post.

Tip is set for noon, about half an hour from now. The game will be on CSTV, the Colonials’ third TV appearance this season.

There’s a small group of GW fans here, maybe 15 or so, seated behind GW’s bench and up a level. A few minutes ago, they were rather loudly singing the fight song and a couple of GW players and coaches got in on the fun. Perhaps just a little bit of support will help the Colonials overcome a home crowd that is quickly filling in.