GW Women's Hoops Tips Off Saturday Doubleheader Against North Carolina A&T

WHO: GW Women's Basketball (6-4)
WHAT: Game #11 vs. North Carolina A&T Aggies (7-1)
WHERE: Charles E. Smith Center (4,338), 600 22nd Street NW
Directions to Smith Center | Parking Options | Public Transportation
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 21 at 12 p.m.
HOW: Buy Tickets
VIDEO: Free on RaiseHigh Live and A-10 Mobile App
STATS: GameTracker
AUDIO: WRGW Sports
TWITTER: @GW_WBB | @GWGeorge | #RaiseHigh
NOTES: GW Notes
PROMOTION: Holiday Hoops Doubleheader - GW Men's Basketball vs. UMBC at 2:30 p.m. | Tickets for either game are good for both games

WASHINGTON, D. C.  --  The George Washington women's basketball team goes for its third straight win when it hosts North Carolina A&T in the first game of a holiday hoops doubleheader at the Charles E. Smith Center on Saturday. The Colonials will face the Aggies at 12 p.m. ahead of the GW men's basketball game against UMBC, which will tip off at approximately 2:30 p.m. Tickets for either game are good for both contests.

GW (6-4) has not played since a 75-60 win over Morgan State last Saturday at the Smith Center. Graduate student Megan Nipe led four Colonials in double figures with 18 points, with 13 coming during GW's second-half comeback in which the Colonials outscored the Lady Bears, 43-25.  Sophomore Alexis Chandler had a career day with 14 points, eight rebounds and five steals against Morgan State, while freshman Caira Washington matched her career high with 15 points.

Washington was named Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Week on Monday. She is averaging 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds and shooting 61.8 percent (21-34) with a pair of double-doubles in her last four games. The freshman from Brandywine, Md., is GW's top rebounder (7.9 rpg) and second-leading scorer (10.4 ppg), and she ranks sixth in the A-10 in shooting percentage (.500, 42-84), eighth in rebounding and ninth in blocked shots (1.0 bpg).

GW has averaged 72.5 points per game this season behind five players who are averaging better than seven points per game, including three in double figures. Nipe leads the way and ranks fourth in the A-10 with 18.1 points per game, as has scored in double figures in every game but one this season, while topping 20 four times. Nipe also ranks seventh in the league with 2.1 three-pointers made per game.

Graduate student Danni Jackson is averaging 10.0 points per game and ranks seventh in the A-10 in assists (4.4 apg) and assist-to-turnover ratio (1.4). She needs one helper to become the seventh Colonial ever with 400 assists in her career.

Saturday's game marks the GW debut for sophomore Jonquel Jones, who transferred to Foggy Bottom from Clemson last winter and had to sit out until the end of the Fall 2013 semester due to NCAA transfer rules. The 2012 Washington Post All-Met Player of the Year and Gatorade Maryland Player of the Year at Riverdale Baptist, Jones averaged 9.8 points, 10.0 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game in eight games at Clemson before transferring to GW.

GW and North Carolina A&T will face off for just the second time on Saturday. The teams met for the first time ever on Jan. 6, 2013, in Greensboro, N.C., a 67-56 win for the host Aggies.

At 7-1, A&T is off to the best start in program history. The Aggies defeated UNC Asheville, 83-57, on Tuesday for their seventh straight victory, as their only loss on the year came to Quinnipiac in the season opener.

Tracy King paces the Aggies with 13.9 points per game, followed closely by Christina Carter's 13.8 points per contest. Both players are shooting better than 51 percent from the floor. In addition, Carter leads the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference with 5.6 assists per game, and King is tops with 3.6 steals per outing. A&T has outscored its opponents by 18.3 points per game this season and boasts both the top scoring offense and defense in the MEAC, averaging 73.1 points per game while allowing just 54.9. The Aggies also leads the league in field goal percentage (.456), assists (15.0 apg) and steals (11.9 spg).

After advancing to the 2013 WNIT with a 22-10 overall record, A&T - under the direction of second-year head coach Tarrell Robinson - was picked to finish second in the MEAC preseason poll.

Sophomore center Eboni Ross, the reigning MEAC Rookie of the Year, was named to the Preseason All-MEAC first team, while King was tabbed to the second team.

COURTESY THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS COMMUNICATION