Dec. 17, 2007

A-10 Notebook - Dec. 17

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Sabrina Gregory - Charlotte
Senior, Guard, Fayetteville, N.C./ E.E. Smith HS
Gregory helped Charlotte to a win in its only contest of the week over ACC foe Virginia Tech on Dec. 16 ... shot 62% from the field while leading the team with 19 points and adding four rebounds, six assists and six steals in the victory ... helped Charlotte to its fifth win in six games ... first Player of the Week honor.

CO-PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kate Mills - Massachusetts
Senior, Forward, Elkton, Md./Ursuline Academy
Mills averaged 17 points, 6.5 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 blocks while leading Massachusetts in scoring in two games last week ... had 18 points on 8-of-10 shooting at Villanova on Dec. 11 ... recorded 16 points, nine rebounds, four blocks and three steals for a win at Wagner on Dec. 15 .. also went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to seal win over Wagner ... second Player of the Week honor.

ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Ta'Shia Phillips - Xavier
Freshman, Forward, Indianapolis, Ind/Brebeuf Jesuit HS
Phillips notched her sixth double-double of the season with a 17-point, 12-rebound effort in Xavier's 76-67 win over East Tennessee State on Dec. 16 ... went 4-of-7 from the floor and made a career-high nine free throws as the freshman reached double-figure scoring for the seventh time this year ... has recorded double-figure rebounds in eight games this season ... fifth-straight Rookie of the Week honor.

WEEKLY HONOR ROLL (Week of 12/10-12/16): Xavier sophomore forward Amber Harris notched 21 points, grabbed six rebounds and had a career-high five assists in a win for Xavier (12/16) ... Junior guard Katelyn Murray of St. Bonaventure posted a career-high 22 points in a win at Canisius (12/15) ... Duquesne junior guard Kristi Little scored 18 points with a career-high eight rebounds in a win over IPFW (12/16). Teammate, freshman guard Samantha Pollino pulled down a game-high nine rebounds and added 13 points ... Temple sophomore guard LaKeisha Eaddy scored a career-high 23 points and added five assists in a win over Western Michigan (12/16).

WELCOME: The 2007-08 season welcomes two new head coaches to the scene. Karen Aston was named head women's basketball coach at Charlotte and Suzie McConnell-Serio is the new head women's coach at Duquesne. Aston comes to the 49ers after spending last season as associate head coach at Baylor. McConnell-Serio was one of the most highly successful high school coaches in Pittsburgh history and also was a head coach for the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx. Most recently, she was elected to the Women's Basketball Hall of Fame.

GW IN THE RANKS: The Colonials dropped out of the Associated Press Top 25 rankings on Dec. 4 and are still receiving votes as of Dec. 10. The Colonials were ranked in the AP top 25 for 21 straight weeks dating back to week three of 2006-07. The ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Top 25 poll listed the Colonials at No. 22 on Dec. 11. In the preseason, the Colonials were ranked No. 10 in Slam Magazine, No. 11 in the Sporting News, No. 13 in Lindy's and No. 24 in Athlon Sports.

RANKED WINS: Temple and Xavier are the only A-10 teams who have beaten a ranked opponent so far this season. Temple topped then-#22/20 Purdue 61-47 on Nov. 24 in St. Thomas and Xavier defeated #24 NC State in Raleigh, 51-49, on Dec. 4. Temple is currently receiving votes in the Coaches' Poll and is now 10-80 versus ranked teams and the Purdue win was the last over a ranked opponent for TU since Jan. 19, 2006 , when they topped then #9 Rutgers, 48-47. Xavier moved to 6-17 all-time versus ranked teams and snapped a 10-game losing streak against ranked squads. Its last win over a ranked team was the 2001 NCAA Mideast Regional Semifinal upset over No. 3 Tennessee.

INDIVIDUAL PRESEASON HONORS: George Washington senior point guard Kimberly Beck and Xavier sophomore forward Amber Harris were both singled out individually by The Sporting News when they were named to the publication's preseason All-America third-team. In addition, both were named preseason A-10 first-team honorees. Harris was named the 2007 A-10 Rookie of the Year and was the first freshman since the 1994-95 season (Korie Hlede, Duquesne `98) to earn first-team honors. Beck was the A-10 Defensive Player of the Year and both were named to the All-Defensive team. WOODEN WATCH: Senior Kimberly Beck of George Washington and sophomore Amber Harris of Xavier are two of 30 student-athletes named to the John R. Wooden Award Preseason Watch List.

CLASS AWARD NOMINEES: George Washington senior guard Sarah-Jo Lawrence and La Salle senior forward Carlene Hightower are among 30 national nominees for the Lowe's Senior CLASS Award in women's basketball. The award is presented annually to an NCAA Division I senior women's basketball player who exemplifies being a total student-athlete.

A-10 HIGHLIGHTS: After opening the season at 0-2, Dayton boasts the third-longest win streak in the nation with nine straight victories. Only Tennessee (15) and Arkansas (10) have more consecutive wins. The streak is the longest under head coach Jim Jabir ... St. Bonaventure matched the Bonnies' best start in school history through 10 games with an 8-2 mark ... Temple has now played five Top 25 teams, four of which are ranked in the Top 10, however isn't finished with its NCAA Tournament-caliber schedule as it still has to play #4/3 Rutgers on Dec. 30 ... Xavier freshman Ta'Shia Phillips has earned five of the first six Rookie of the Week honors. She entered the week ranked second in the nation in rebounds with 12.7 boards per game and recorded her second 20-rebound performance on Dec. 9

LEAGUE STREAKS: Dayton has won nine-straight contests since opening 0-2 which ranks tied for third in the nation ... The Flyers have hit at least one three point shot in 200 consecutive games dating back to 2001, which leads the A-10.

LEAGUE STREAKS ENDED: Xavier snapped a 10-game losing streak versus ranked opponents with a win over #24 NC State (12/4) ... GW's streak of 21-straight weeks in the AP Top 25 came to an end on Dec. 4 when the Colonials were receiving votes in the latest poll ... Xavier snapped a 13-game home winning streak at Cintas Center dating back to last season with a home loss to Liberty (11/25) ... St. Bona's five-game winning streak came to an end after a loss at Bowling Green on Nov. 24. The 5-0 start equaled the program's best start in `05-06 ... George Washington's 15-game home winning streak, which ranked eighth in the nation, was snapped in a loss to #6/7 Rutgers on Nov. 18 ... UMass broke a streak of 12 years without a win over instate rival Boston College after a 69-66 victory over the Eagles on Nov. 14.

THE ASSISTS CHASE: GW senior All-American Kimberly Beck has led the A-10 in assists at the end of every season since her freshman year and is hoping to become just the second player since Penn State's Suzie McConnell (`88) to lead the league all four years. The point guard helped her cause by posting back-to-back double-digit assist totals on Nov. 23 (10) and Nov. 24 (12), and ranks second in the Conference so far with 6.2 assists per game. The leader? Junior guard Kristi Little (6.7 apg) of Duquesne, coached by first-year head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio.

1,000-POINT CLUB: Three A-10 players each notched their 1,000th career point in their opening games on Nov. 9. George Washington senior Kimberly Beck, Massachusetts senior Pam Rosanio and senior forward Christina Campion of Richmond all joined their team's respective 1,000 point clubs. Since then, senior forward Carlene Hightower tallied her 1,000th career point on Nov. 19. Charlotte senior guard Sabrina Gregory became the 15th player in 49ers history on Nov. 21 to earn her 1,000th career point. Senior guard Sarah-Jo Lawrence became the 22nd member of GW's 1,000th point club on Nov. 24.

HIGH-RANKING HOSTS

• Then-#14/12 George Washington hosted #6/7 Rutgers (11/18) in a game broadcast on ESPNU which featured the two highest ranked teams, men's or women's, to meet in the 33-year history of the Smith Center. The Colonials lost 67-42 snapping their 15-game home-court winning streak. GW was the last A-10 team to defeat a Top 10 team (non-conference play) with a win over #10 Georgia on Dec. 28, 2007.

• Saint Joseph's hosted #5/6 Rutgers on Nov. 28 in Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse. The Scarlet Knights were the highest-ranked opponent the Hawks have faced since hosting #5/6 Penn State on January 29, 2004 (L, 80-44). SJU also hosted No. 1 Connecticut at the Palestra on December 21, 2003 (L, 87-34). After a tough 64-62 loss to #21 Wyoming at the Hawkeye Challenge (12/8), the Hawks have won just three of their last seven games versus ranked opponents with its most recent a 57-55 win over #8/9 George Washington in the A-10 semifinals last season. They are 30-104 all-time versus ranked foes.

A-10 LEADERS: Xavier freshman forward Ta'Shia Phillips has six double-doubles to lead the Conference ... junior guard Kristi Little (3.70 spg) of Duquesne is the early defensive leader having snagged a career-high nine steals in the Dukes' season-opener (11/9) ... senior Jerri Taylor of Xavier hit a school-record nine three-point field goals as the league leader ... George Washington senior point guard Kimberly Beck posted a league-best 12 assists on Nov. 24. Beck's 12 assists were the most by an A-10 player since she registered 13 in NCAA play in March of 2006 versus Old Dominion ... Phillips grabbed a school-record 20 rebounds on two different occasions (last 12/9) so far this season. The last time an A-10 player besides Phillips grabbed 20 or more rebounds was on March 17, 2007 when Jessica Adair (GW) had 21 boards in an NCAA Tournament win ... Xavier's 97 points versus McNeese State (11/24) were the most points scored under head coach Kevin McGuff and most in the A-10 this season.

WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: Duquesne averaged 59 points per game to rank 13th last season and this season is averaging 71.8 through 10 games to lead the league. The difference is in the offense from junior guard Kristi Little. Little is third in the Conference averaging 18.6 points per game after scoring just 8.3 points per game last season.

KEEP THE STREAK ALIVE: The 49ers have led the Conference in scoring each year since joining the A-10 in 2005-06 averaging 70.9 points and 73.0 points per game, respectively. The streak was in jeopardy as they opened the season ranked eighth in the league, however, they've bounced back to form averaging 68.1 points per game this season to move to third overall.

CLOSE CALLS THE NORM FOR DAYTON: The A-10 has already seen six games go into overtime in the early going, but Dayton sets the standard in close calls. UD is off to an 9-2 start, and both of the Flyers' losses have come by single digits this season, while two of its wins have come by just one point. Last season, the Flyers had 15 of their 31 games decided by single digits and Dayton was 4-11 in those games. UD had a seven-game losing streak in which each game was decided by eight points or less with an averaged margin of defeat at 3.7 points per game.

THESE LADIES LOVE TO PLAY: The A-10 has seen six overtime games so far this season (1-5) but finished with a total of 15 overtime games last season (7-8). So far, Duquesne has played in half those games with three of its games going into extra time. It was the first time in program history that three out of four Duquesne games have gone into overtime. The Dukes are 1-2 in OT this year and 9-9 all-time.

CONSISTENCY IS KEY: Temple has led the league for the past three seasons in field goal percentage averaging .446 from the floor the last three years. A key factor for this has been the play of senior center Lady Comfort over the past three seasons. Comfort boasts a career average of .557 from the floor, including a career-high .635 in 2005-06. She currently leads the Owls in shooting (.506) and rebounding with 8.7 per game, and is second in scoring with 9.5 points per game.

PLAYING BIG: Early in the season, several A-10 players have quickly shown that you don't have to be "big" to play "big." Duquesne lists guard Kristi Little at 5-4, one of the shortest players in the league, and she is third in the Conference in scoring with 18.6 points per game. Temple freshman Ashley Morris, a 5-5 point guard, leads the Owls in scoring with 16.8 points per game while Rhode Island senior guard Safi Mojidi, 5-6, is the Ram's scoring leader at 13.8 points per game. Freshman guard Brittani Shells, 5-7, at Richmond scores 12.4 points per game, good for second on her team. Freshmen guards Megan Mahoney, 5-7, and Kristina Bell, 5-9, of Fordham are the scoring (10.9 ppg) leader and second in rebounding (6.5 rpg) for the Rams, respectively.

THE FUTURE IS BRIGHT: Five sophomores were named to preseason All-Conference teams and all are having a significant impact on their teams. Preseason first-teamer Amber Harris (XU) (16.6 ppg) and preseason third-team member Dana Mitchell (SBU) (19.2 ppg) are in the top five in the league in scoring, with Mitchell currently leading the Conference. Third-teamers Wendy Stywalt (CHA) and LaKeisha Eaddy (TU) have started every game this season and are fourth and third on their teams in scoring, respectively and Theresa Lisch (SLU) led her Billikens in scoring last season but missed the first eight games due to injury before averaging 14 points in her first two games back. Sophomore Katie Paganelli leads SLU in scoring (14.6 ppg).

MISSING LINKS: Several A-10 teams have performed well without the help of some key players who are out early due to injuries. SBU is off to a 7-2 start, its second best start since 1979-80, without the play of senior point guard Priscilla Edwards who is out for the season. SJU is 5-4 without sophomore forward Brittany Ford, a 2007 A-10 All-Championship team member who is listed day-to-day. GW (7-3) just saw the returns of key starter senior guard Whitney Allen who missed five games, but is still without the services of junior forward Antelia Parrish until further notice.

WORTH THE WAIT: SLU (3-7) was without the services of its 2006-07 leading scorer, sophomore guard Theresa Lisch, for the first eight contests. She sat out due to a broken finger, but has returned to the line-up and led the Billikens to their third win over Missouri State (12/7) with 17 points and nine rebounds.

30-POINT SCORERS: Xavier sophomore forward Amber Harris recorded the league's first 30-point performance in a win over Penn State (11/15) and was joined by Carlene Hightower of La Salle with 30 points in a loss at Drexel (11/17). Senior forward Nikki Oakland of Dayton topped both performances with a career-high 32 points in a win over Akron (12/2).

REGULAR SEASON ALL-TOURNEY HONORS: GW senior guard Kimberly Beck was named the GW Thanksgiving Classic MVP (11/25). Junior teammate Jessica Adair earned All-Tournament team honors ... Senior guard Safi Mojidi of Rhode Island was named to the URI Shootout Invitational All-Tournament team (11/25) ... Freshman center Ta'Shia Phillips was honored as a National City Xavier Invitational All-Tournament team honoree (11/25) ... Senior guard Ashley Morris of Temple was a 2007 Paradise Jam All-Tournament team member (11/25) ... junior guard Annie Zopf earned Miami Thanksgiving All-Tournament team honors (11/24) ... Richmond junior guard Johanna McKnight and sophomore forward Katie Holzer earned Lady Rebel Shootout All-Tournament team honors (11/24) ... St. Bonaventure sophomore Dana Mitchell was named the St. Bona Shootout MVP (11/17) and earned All-Tournament honors at the FAU Holiday Classic (12/2) ... senior guard Kimberly Beck and junior forward Jessica Adair of GW were named to the Four Points by Sheraton Lady Privateer Invitational All-Tournament team (12/1) ... senior guard Amy Wold was named the Brown Basketball Classic MVP and was joined on the All-Tournament team by classmate Timisha Gomez. SJU won the Classic title (12/2) ... Saint Joseph's sophomore guard Amy Gillespie earned Hawkeye Challenge All-Tournament honors in Iowa (12/9).

OFF AND RUNNING: The 49ers were chosen to represent the United States at the World University Games playing as Team USA in Bangkok, Thailand on August 7-18. The team finished in sixth place overall with a 4-3 record. Charlotte was chosen in the preseason by the league coaches to tie for second place in the standings.

A-10'S ALL-AMERICAN: Two A-10 player earned All-American status last year as Temple's Kamesha Hairston (`07) and George Washington senior Kimberly Beck were named honorable mention All-Americans by the Associated Press. Beck became just the third player in league history to lead the Conference in assists in three straight seasons and with one more year under her belt could become just the second player along with Suzie McConnell (`88) to have led the Conference in assists in all four seasons. Hairston became the second-straight A-10 player to be chosen in the first round of the WNBA draft (Connecticut Sun).

DID YOU KNOW?

• Since 2001, the A-10 has had three different schools ranked in the top 15 of the AP's Top 25 polls (George Washington, Temple, Xavier). Overall, seven different A-10 women's programs have graced the AP's top 15 and five have been in the top 10. George Washington peaked at No. 8 in 2007.

• Since 2003, the A-10 has had at least four schools earn postseason bids each year, including five schools for the last two seasons straight. Three A-10 schools earned NCAA bids in 2007 and 2005. George Washington was a No. 5 seed in the 2007 NCAA Championship and advanced to the Sweet Sixteen.

• Since the WNBA began in 1997, 13 A-10 players have been drafted, including five first round picks. The A-10 has had two first round picks in the last two years.

• The A-10 boasts two head coaches who have won gold medals at the Olympic Games in Dawn Staley (Temple) and Suzie McConnell-Serio (Duquesne). McConnell-Serio (`88), who played in the A-10 with Penn State, will be inducted into the women's basketball Hall of Fame in the spring of 2008 and holds the current NCAA record for career assists (1,307).

THE 2008 A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP: Saint Joseph's University was selected by Conference athletic directors to host the 2008 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship. The Championship, in its 26th season, will tip-off on Friday, March 7 and conclude on Monday, March 10. The top-12 teams in the league qualify for the tournament with four teams receiving first round byes. The quarterfinals will be played on March 8 and the two semifinal matchups will take place on Sunday, March 9 and will be televised by CSTV. The Championship game will be played on Monday, March 10 with the winner receiving the league's automatic berth into the 2008 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. Xavier is the defending Atlantic 10 Champions.

TWO A-10 TEAMS WILL FIND NEW/IMPROVED HOMES: The Saint Louis and Saint Joseph's women's basketball teams will find themselves playing in new surroundings in the upcoming seasons. Saint Louis began construction of the University's new $80-million on-campus, multipurpose Chaifetz Arena, and Saint Joseph's is undergoing an expansion of Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse and building a dedicated center for men's and women's basketball. SLU is scheduled to open the arena in April of 2008 and SJU could see events in the new facility by 2010.