GW Women at Memphis Preview

It sounds weird to say that a game on December 6th is a must-win, but that's what the Colonials are facing. Sitting at 5-3, there is no doubt that this is not exactly the season GW fans were expecting. Two disappointing loses to Wright State and Florida Gulf Coast, as well as a disappointing showing at Stanford have put the Colonials where they are.

As it stands, GW really only has one quality win: Iowa, who has since dropped out of the rankings. Looking at the rest of the schedule, there may only be two games left (both vs Dayton) to make a statement to the NCAA Selection Committee that this team deserves a good seed, or a bid at all.

Despite this, Jonquel Jones has continued to build her WNBA résumé, most recently scoring her 1,000th point last night against FGCU. She, as well as Caira Washington have been GW's most consistent players, night-in and night-out.

But looking at the FGCU game from last night, two of the Colonials' Achilles heels may have cost the, the game: turnovers and three-point defense. In the last minute alone, GW tallied at least 2 or 3 back-breaking turnovers that sealed their fate. The first came after two missed FGCU free throws, to put GW down one, when Hannah Schaible drove to the basket, attempted to kick the ball out to the corner, but ultimately threw it away, the second came after two made FGCU free throws to put GW down three with 10.1 seconds left. Caira Washington attempted to inbound the ball to Lauren Chase, but the two had a miscommunication. Washington inbounded, but behind Chase's back, where a FGCU player recovered the ball, and ran the clock down to 3.2 before being fouled and sinking a free throw to put the game out of reach.

The other part of the Colonials' struggles was their three-point defense, as FGCU used the three to remain within striking distance, and ultimately win the game. The Colonials' perimeter defensive struggle has been a trend dating back to the American game on opening night, and has continued to cause problem. The Stanford game, for example, is a game GW would have been much closer in had Stanford not hit all those threes in e second quarter to put the Colonials down double digits.

The 64-60 loss to FGCU was the first loss at the Smith Center in 15 games, but was a game they had to have. Moving forward with their schedule, GW heads right back on the road for a date with Memphis, before games against Villanova, Iona, at Illinois, and Hartford before beginning A10 conference play.

If GW hopes to have an 8 seed or higher in the NCAA Tournament, they must win out for the rest of non-conference, and at the very most, two A10 loses. They also must beat Dayton at least once, and also Fordham and Duquesne. The Colonials' still control their own destiny, but the time for bad loses has ended, they must right the ship against Memphis, and continue that momentum moving forward.