Welcome to the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tipoff for the 2020-21 Season. Today, we feature the George Washington Colonials. To revisit all of the season previews throughout the week, click here.
George Washington
Website | Roster
Social Central
@GWsports | @GW_WBB | @JenRizzotti
It's no secret George Washington needs scoring.
Pitt transfer Jasmine Whitney, the Panthers assist leader in three years who averaged nearly 10 points, will play her final season close to her hometown, Centerville, Va. And she'll elevate a Colonials offense that struggled offensively last season.
"She's such an experienced point guard who played in a super competitive conference," said GW Coach Jennifer Rizzotti. "We're excited about her ability to push tempo in a way that allows us to play faster and still play disciplined. That was a big deal for us last year. We were inexperienced at the guard spot and when we played fast, we were sloppy."
Junior Neila Luma missed all but five games after an early-season knee injury, but returns healthy and eager. "She looks great, and she came back in great shape," Rizzotti said.
Expect Maddie Loder to be more of an impact player as a junior. Sydney Zambrotta will shore up the more versatile backcourt that will be less turnover prone. The graduate student, a transfer from Louisville last year, started 10 games last year.
"Those three options for us are really exciting," Rizzotti said. "They're playing like upperclassmen."
Guard Mayowa Taiwo had a stellar freshman season and only looks better as a sophomore. "She's our most competitive and hardest working player, and now she's got a year of experience under her belt," Rizzotti said.
The points will come with more possessions behind Whitney, who can pick and choose from multiple options. Rizzotti expects the three freshmen to contribute, noting she's already impressed by 6-4 center Ali Brigham. The Massachusetts native is the all-time leading scorer from Franklin High, with 1,692 points.
"She's a better shot blocker than I thought and a different kind of post than Mayowa and Neila," she said. "She's already making an impact at both ends of the floor."
While every program is faced with COVID challenges, GW is located in downtown Washington, D.C. and the nation's capital has been a hotspot for the pandemic. The Colonials still haven't been in their own locker room. Rizzotti's coached at the international level but can think of nothing as daunting as the uncertainty posed by the pandemic.
"We're controlling what we can," she said. "There's nothing to prepare us for this other than being willing to be flexible. I hope with the standards we've set across the board as a conference, they'll allow us to play as many games as we can."
A look at the Colonials:
Coach: Jennifer Rizzotti, 379-276 in 21 seasons overall, 63-60 in four seasons at George Washington
Last year: 14-16, 8-8 Atlantic 10 (Lost at home to No. 9 Richmond 57-49 in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship)
They'll miss: Alexandra Maund (team-high 11.1 ppg, 5.0 rpg); Tori Hyduke (9.0 ppg, transferred to Drexel); Kayla Mokwuah (8.2 ppg, 4.5 rpg, transferred to TCU)
Impact returners: Neila Luma, 6-0 redshirt junior F (missed all but 5 games after suffering early-season knee injury. Led GW in scoring (10.4 ppg) and rebounding (6.1 rpg) in 2018-19); Sydney Zambrotta, 5-9 graduate student G (8.0 ppg); Mayowa Taiwo, 6-0 redshirt sophomore F (6.8 ppg, team-high 6.1 rpg); Faith Blethen, 6-1 sophomore F (5.8 ppg)
Newbies of note: Jasmine Whitney, 5-9 graduate student G, 10th all-time at Pitt with 162 steals, averaged 9.6 ppg last season. Already named one of three captains along with sophomore Faith Blethen and redshirt junior Neila Luma); Ali Brigham, 6-4 C; 5-8 G Aurea Gingras; 6-2 F Caranda Perea; 5-11 redshirt junior G Gabby Nikitinaite, transfer from Northern Illinois. averaged 12.1 ppg two years ago and 7.2 ppg last year. GW is awaiting its appeal for an NCAA waiver.
Reason for optimism: This team has experience, starting with Whitney, who will make an immediate impact with a veteran group.
Bottom line: Expect improvement from the Colonials, already defensively sound. If the points come, GW could move back among the contenders.
Vicki Friedman is a freelance writer who has covered women's basketball for major newspapers for over two decades, and she has written for Atlantic10.com since 2012. Her blog, LadySwish, can be found at ladyswishwbb.com and on Twitter.