ByGeorge! Online

April 1, 2003

Colonials Finish First in NCAA Opener

The GW women’s basketball team faced down 11th seeded University of Oklahoma on its home court in front of more than 3,000 partisan fan in the opening round of the NCAA Women’s Basketball Tournament. After a slow start the Colonials defeated the Sooners, 71–61, to advance to the second round against Villanova on March 25.

Unlike Rhode Island in the A-10 Championship finals, the Sooners focused their game plan on shutting down GW’s inside presence, dedicating a pair of defenders to junior center Ugo Oha. As a result Head Coach Joe McKeown adjusted GW’s offensive game plan to feature the outside shooting of Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Cathy Joens. Joens finished the game with 22 points, including 14 in the second half.

Despite the constant menacing from Oklahoma defenders, Oha finished the night with 14 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks for George Washington.

The Sooners held a three-point advantage at halftime and led, 34–31, early in the second half before GW went on a 19–2 run. Joens led the offensive onslaught, nailing three 3-point shots during the spurt, which saw Oklahoma commit five consecutive turnovers.

“I’m proud of my team tonight,” said McKeown after the game. “It was a great atmosphere and the Oklahoma fans made it a great home court for them. Our kids really took control in the second half of the game. I thought we played with a lot of poise in a difficult environment.”

Oklahoma out-rebounded the Colonials, 39–29, and dominated GW on the boards during in the first half, pulling down 24 rebounds to GW’s 12.

“Coming into halftime, I read on the board that Oklahoma had 23 rebounds and we had 11,” said Oha. “I just tried to emphasize to my teammates that in order to win this game that we had to get on the boards. Our rebounding was one of our weak points but I know we’re going to bounce back.”

After making it to the national championship game in 2002, Oklahoma (19–12) had been besieged by injuries during the 2002–03 season. The Sooners lost four players to knee injuries, including senior star Caton Hill. Big 12 Conference co-Freshman of the Year Chelsi Welch helped pick up the slack as Oklahoma has overcome injuries to make its sixth NCAA Tournament appearance.

“I give Oklahoma a lot of credit,” said McKeown, who served as the school’s assistant coach from 1984–86. “They had a terrific year. It speaks a lot of their program to be back in the tournament after losing players to graduation and injuries. I’m sure they’ll be hanging around for a while.”

Villanova advanced to the second round by beating St. Francis, PA, 51–36.

Complete Game Victory Leads GW to First A-10 Win
The GW baseball team (16–5, 1–1) won the second game of a doubleheader against A-10 opponent Rhode Island in Norwich, CT, on the strength of Colonials pitcher Dan Sullivan’s complete game performance. Sullivan gave up only two runs on four hits, dropping his season ERA to 3.33. Chris Barry hit a single, double, and triple in GW’s first conference win of the year.

In the first game the Rams ended GW’s 11-game winning streak when they rallied to win, 7–6, at Dodd Stadium. The Colonials led 6–0 but could not hold off the Rams who scored five runs in the bottom of the fifth to secure the win.

GW’s ace Greg Conden (4–2) suffered the loss for the Colonials, allowing seven runs on four hits with six strikeouts in five innings. Only two of Conden’s runs were earned as the Rams capitalized on a pair of costly Colonials errors in the bottom of the fifth. The 11-game winning streak was the fifth longest in team history.

Lacrosse Team Gets First A-10 Victory
Freshman Colleen Schmidt scored the game-winning goal with 6:54 remaining to lift GW to its first-ever Atlantic 10 Conference victory, 7–6, over visiting Saint Joseph’s at GW’s Mount Vernon Athletic Complex on March 23. The league victory was a milestone for the GW lacrosse program, now in its second season, after going winless in Atlantic 10 play last year.

Early on, it looked like Saint Joseph’s might run away with the game after the Hawks jumped on GW for three goals to open the match. The first two by Kelly Butler within the first five minutes and a third by Kerry O’Connell just six minutes into the game. GW sophomore Jenny Heisler got the Colonials on the scoreboard with a goal at the 14:12 mark of the first half, but Butler answered with her third goal just three minutes later.
Goals by GW freshman Lauren Bower and sophomore Meghan McDonough pulled GW to within one at 4–3 to close out the first half.

The Colonials came out firing in the second half with a pair of quick strikes by sophomore Jamie Lee (Berkeley, CA/Berkeley) and Heisler’s second tally in the first 2:50 of the period to put the Colonials ahead, 5–4.
Saint Joseph’s (0–4, 0–1 A-10) responded with a pair of goals, one by junior Amie Schmoltze and a second by Kristen Teklinsky to recapture a 6–5 advantage.

GW Softball Picks Up Second Win
The GW softball team defeated the University of Vermont, 4–3, March 21 to end its road trip to Florida with its second win of the season.
Freshman Elana Meyers pitched out of some tough situations to hold Vermont to three runs and pick up her second victory of the season. She also helped the Colonials offense with an RBI triple in the top of the third.

Campus Prepares for 16th Annual GW Crew Classic
GW is set to host the 16th annual George Washington Invitational Crew Classic, the metropolitan area’s largest collegiate rowing competition.
The April 12 regatta on the Potomac River serves as the unofficial finale to the National Cherry Blossom Festival, which runs through April 7.

Rowing faithful will need to make their way to Thompson’s Boat House at the bottom of Virginia Avenue or Washington Harbour in Georgetown by 8 am if they want to catch the preliminary heats. The 2,000-meter, four-lane buoyed course begins near the Spout Run area of the Potomac River with the finish line in front of the Washington Harbour. The finals are scheduled to begin at 1:20 pm, and an awards ceremony will follow the competition at approximately 5 pm.

More than 400 rowers from 10 universities, including GW, are expected to take part in the day-long event. Previous classics have hosted squads from George Mason, Georgetown, St. Joseph’s, the US Naval Academy, and Virginia among others, competing for the Gilbert H. Hood, Jr. Point Trophy.

Men’s and women’s categories this year include: varsity eights, second varsity eights, varsity fours, novice eights and second novice eights.
Last year the US Naval Academy crews won seven events at the crew classic to capture the Gilbert H. Hood, Jr. Point Trophy. GW tied Marietta College for fourth place.

 

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