March 2, 2004

GW Basketball Rolls Toward March

J.R. Pinnock scored 19 points and Mike Hall added 18 points as the men’s basketball team downed Duquesne, 86–63, on the road Feb. 21, notching the team’s fifth-consecutive victory and extending its record to 10–3 in the Atlantic 10 and 16–8 overall.

The win follows a thrilling last-second, 66–64, victory at home over west division leader Dayton. Following the win students rushed Tex Silverman Court giving the Smith Center an air of post-season celebration.

“It was great,” said junior guard T. J. Thompson about being mobbed by students. “It had felt terrible when it happened to us down at Richmond. As long as I’ve been here, we’d never experienced that. It fell hard on us when we first saw it. So to finally get it at home, it’s like the best feeling.”

The win avenged an early season 74–66 loss on the road against the Flyers when the Colonials were hovering just above .500 and still trying to find themselves. Since the loss, GW has gone 7–1.

“It’s a good win for our program [because] we’ve come a long way,” said head coach Karl Hobbs. “To have that kind of student support and have the students really rallying around these guys. When [Dayton] made a run, the students wouldn’t let us lose… . It was just a thrilling victory for us.”

Thompson Named Second Team All-District
Thompson, who’s driving layup with 1.2 seconds to play gave GW the win over Dayton and pulled the team within a game of the lead in the A-10 West, was named to the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) All-District 4 second team. He is one of 150 men’s basketball student-athletes nationwide to be selected from 15 districts.

Thompson leads the Colonials in scoring with 14.6 points per game and has converted a team-high 55 three-point field goals. Thompson has started all 80 games in the last two-plus seasons netting 974 career points and 373 career assists.

Freshman Pinnock was named the A-10 Conference Rookie of the Week for the third time this season. Pinnock shot 9–12 FGs and scored a game-high 19 points in GW’s win over Duquesne on Feb. 21 in Pittsburgh. He also had two blocks and three steals in that road victory. He hit all three of his shots in GW’s thrilling victory over Dayton Feb. 18 at Smith Center. In November, Pinnock was named to the preseason A-10 All-Rookie Team by the league’s head coaches.

Women’s Streak Snapped
A day after the men’s team defeated Duquesne, the GW women’s basketball team (19–6 overall, 12–2 A-10) had its 11-game winning streak snapped by the Dukes, 77–60. Despite a double-double performance from Cathy Joens (14 points, 11 rebounds) and 19 points from Anna Montañana, GW wilted under the rain of three-point shots from Duquesne (13 of 21 from beyond the arc).

Dialing Long Distance
During the team’s Feb. 15 victory over Dayton, Joens moved into first place on GW’s all-time list for three-point field goals, passing assistant head coach Lisa Cermignano. The same day the conference announced that Joens earned A-10 Player of the Week honors for the second time this season. At the time, Joens ranked in the top 15 in 10 categories and was second in scoring (20.3 points per game).

McKeown Hits 400
Head coach Joe McKeown became the 41st head coach in Division I history to win 400 games Jan. 31, when the Colonials beat La Salle, 81–64.

In his 15th season at GW, McKeown is the school’s all-time winningest women’s basketball coach by both percentage (.733) and number of victories (332). He also is among the winningest active coaches in Division I women’s basketball, winning 74 percent of his games over 17 years, and he is the winningest coach in the 19 years of the A-10 Conference.

Triple-Double Trouble
Forward Anna Montañana was named A-10 Player of the Week on Feb. 1. On the season Montañana is averaging 12.6 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.6 assists per game.

She recorded the conference’s first triple-double of the season and second in GW history with 11 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists versus La Salle on Jan. 29. She was close to doing the same versus Duquesne on Jan. 31 when she finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and nine assists.

“You can play her at all five positions,” said McKeown following the game Jan. 31. “So a triple-double, and double-doubles, are not all that surprising. … She’s like Joe Montana. When she puts the ball right there, it's not that hard to make the shot.”

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