Weekly Honors: Colonials, Minutewomen Earn Awards.....

George Washington’s Martins Named A-10 Women’s Basketball Player of the Week

Massachusetts’ Leidel Named A-10 Rookie of the Week

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — George Washington’s Lexi Martins was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Player of the Week while Massachusetts’ freshman Hailey Leidel earned Rookie of the Week honors. The awards, announced Monday, were for games played Jan. 9-15.

Martins continued her strong performance in conference play averaging a double-double in two standout performances last week to lead the Colonials to a 2-0 week. She opened her week with 16 points and 10 rebounds in an overtime win at George Mason on Wednesday. Against Davidson, the graduate student from Irvington, N.Y., was 7-of-11 (.636) from the field on the way to a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double. For the week, she averaged 15.0 points, 10.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 blocks.

Leidel had a huge week in leading UMass to a pair of victories this week with a road win at Davidson followed by a home win against Duquesne. The freshman from Brownstown, Mich., hit the game-winning, buzzer-beating 3-pointer against the Wildcats highlighting a week in which she averaged 21 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 steals.  In the road win at Davidson, Leidel scored 20 points and was 5-of-11 beyond the arc. In the win over Duquesne, she scored 22 points with eight rebounds and five steals. Overall, she was 9-of-20 (.450) from 3-point range and 11-of-12 (.910) at the free throw line over two games.

Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll

Davidson’s Mackenzie Latt averaged a double-double for the week in games against UMass and George Washington with 17.5 points and 11.5 rebounds last week…Dayton’s Kelley Austria became the 24th Dayton Flyer to score 1,000 points in her career with 18 points in the win at Duquesne on Tuesday. Dayton freshman Jayla Scaife had 16 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field against Saint Louis…George Mason’s Kara Wright averaged 18.5 points, 9.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week for the Patriots. Freshman teammate Jacy Bolton posted her first career double-double 14 points and 10 rebounds in a win over VCU…Rhode Island freshman Nicole Jorgensen averaged 10.5 points, 10.5 rebounds and 3.0 blocked shots per game over two contests. She recorded her second career double-double with 16 points, 14 rebounds and three blocks in 20 minutes off the bench against Richmond…Janelle Hubbard scored in double-figures in both games last week for the Spiders, averaging 12.5 points over two contests. Richmond freshman Amy Duggan had eight points and three steals in the road victory over Rhode Island…St. Bonaventure’s Gabby Richmondaveraged 17.0 points and 7.5 rebounds over two games for the Bonnies…Saint Joseph’s Adashia Franklyn averaged a double-double, 11.0 points and 10.0 rebounds, over two games last week as the Hawks recorded victories against VCU and La Salle.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD

SATURDAY:

Saint Joseph's 75, La Salle 55
Richmond 58, Rhode Island 53

SUNDAY:

Dayton 78, Saint Louis 67
UMass 75, Duquesne 67
George Mason 70, VCU 59
Fordham 60, St. Bonaventure 44
George Washington 76, Davidson 62

WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY RESULTS

Most midweek games were at midday across the Atlantic 10 as thousands of school children in Atlantic 10 markets had the chance to take in a game! Here's the scoreboard:

WEDNESDAY:

George Washington 79, George Mason 71 (OT)
Saint Joseph's 64, VCU 58
Fordham 67, Richmond 41
Saint Louis 64, St. Bonaventure 49
Harvard 66, La Salle 64 (non-conference game)

THURSDAY:

UMass 61, Davidson 60

Fordham Tops League, Sweeps Weekly Honors

Fordham’s Davis, Kreslina Earn A-10 Women’s Basketball Weekly Honors

Fordham’s Davis Named A-10 Player of the Week

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — Fordham’s G’Mrice Davis was named the Atlantic 10 Conference Women’s Basketball Players of the Week while freshman teammate Kate Kreslina earned Rookie of the Week honors. The awards, announced Monday, were for games played Jan. 2-8.

Davis averaged 20.5 points and 13.5 rebounds on 18-of-31 shooting (.581) from the field over two games last week for the Rams. The junior from Philadelphia, recorded double-double performances in both games, including 27 points and 13 rebounds against Davidson and 14 points and 14 rebounds against George Mason.

Kreslina averaged 11.5 points on 8-of-13 shooting from the field along with 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists in a pair of wins for the Rams. The redshirt freshman from Riga, Latvia, had 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting against Davidson with a pair of three-point field goals. She followed with nine points and three rebounds along with several key free throws in the second half in a win over George Mason as the Rams remained unbeaten in conference play.

Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll

Davidson’s Mackenzie Latt averaged 18.5 points and nine rebound last week, while reaching the 1,000-point mark for her career against Duquesne…Kelley Austria led the Flyers to wins over St. Bonaventure and George Washington last week. The redshirt senior guard had a strong pair of games, averaging 16.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 2.5 steals per game…Duquesne’s Chassidy Omogrosso recorded a career-high 20 points and nine assists to go with six rebounds in the Dukes’ victory over Davidson…George Mason’s Kara Wright posted her fourth double-double of the season with 16 points and a career-high tying 11 rebounds in a 53-49 loss to Fordham. Freshman teammate Alexsis Grate tied a career high with 11 points in a loss to Fordham on Saturday. The guard also matched a career high with four assists in 19 minutes off the bench…George Washington’s Lexi Martins recorded double-doubles in both performances last week, averaging 14.0 points and 11.5 rebounds…Rhode Island’s Charise Wilson posted her third-straight scoring performance of more than 26 points in conference play and is now averaging 31.0 points per game in A-10 play. Making her first career start last week, Rhode Island freshman Nay Lassiter scored a career-high 12 points against UMass…St. Bonaventure’s Mariah Ruffmatched a career-high of 25 points, adding four rebounds and three assists on 8-of-17 shooting and 5-of-9 from long range vs. Dayton…Richmond’sLauren Tolson averaged a double-double for the second straight week after recording 17 points and eight rebounds in a loss to VCU and nine points and a career-high 14 points against Bona. Jaide Hinds-Clarke recorded her first career double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds against VCU…Saint Louis’ Sadie Stipanovich posted consecutive double-doubles in wins over George Mason and VCU. The double-doubles were her fifth and sixth of the season.

WEEKEND SCOREBOARD

SATURDAY JANUARY 7TH:

Fordham 53, George Mason 49
Duquesne 73, Davidson 51
Saint Joseph's 81, UMass 50

SUNDAY JANUARY 8TH:

Richmond 61, St. Bonaventure 54
Saint Louis 62, VCU 48
Dayton 50, George Washington 48

MONDAY JANUARY 9TH:

La Salle 70, Rhode Island 51

VCU/Richmond Coverage; Midweek Scoreboard

WEDNESDAY:

Fordham 85, Davidson 72
Dayton 62, St. Bonaventure 60
George Washington 53, Saint Joseph's 44
UMass 68, Rhode Island 67
Saint Louis 89, George Mason 50

THURSDAY:

Richmond 62, VCU 55
Duquesne 76, La Salle 68

Weekend Review: Rams, Spiders Earn First Atlantic 10 Wins Before Thursday Showdown

For the Richmond Spiders, it was their Atlantic 10 season opener. For the VCU Rams, it was their conference home opener and a chance to square their league record at 1-1.

In the end, New Year's weekend was kind to both local Atlantic 10 women's basketball teams, as Richmond upended Saint Joseph's 70-52 Saturday at the Robins Center as four Spiders scored in double figures.

Lauren Tolson and Micaela Parson (below, #11) led Richmond (1-0, 7-7) with 17 points, while Janelle Hubbard shot fifty percent from the floor en route to 16 points, and two-time Atlantic 10 Rookie of The Week honoree Jaide Hinds-Clarke added 12 points, going five for seven from the field.

The Spiders, who have at times struggling offensively, poured in 26 points in the second quarter as they built a 41-26 halftime lead, shooting 66.7 percent from the field in the second. A cold third period, however, netted just ten points, but the Hawks (0-1, 3-10) couldn't take advantage, struggling themselves from the field to shave into the deficit by just three points, trailing 51-39 entering the final quarter.

Richmond put the game away down the stretch with a combination of timely shooting and stingy defense, leading by as many as twenty before taking the eighteen-point victory.

"We haven't been able to score and it hasn't made a whole lot of sense to us because we haven't really hit shots," head coach Michael Shafer said in a post-game interview aired on SpiderTV. "We looked back at tape from last year and this year, and we've had the same looks, had the same offensive set, the same stuff. Not being defended differently. We haven't hit them, and I thought we did a really good job of hitting the open shots and playing with a little bit of confidence on the offensive end."

For VCU, it was a matter of overcoming a cold start and trying to contend with the Atlantic 10's leading scorer in La Salle's Amy Griffin Sunday at the Siegel Center. The Rams began to warm up from the field, shooting 44 percent in the second quarter, shutting down Griffin after six early points, and taking a 26-23 lead to the locker room at halftime.

The critical stretch for the Rams (1-1, 8-7) was the third period, where VCU outscored La Salle, who had won eight of their last nine games coming into the Siegel Center Sunday, 20-12, holding the Explorers to 20 percent shooting from the field to build a 46-35 lead. But La Salle stayed alive in the third via the free throw line, returned there and got some timely three-pointers to cut deeply into VCU's lead in the final stanza before the Rams were able to seal the win at the free throw line themselves, hitting nine of twelve at the stripe for a 61-56 victory.

Head Coach Beth O'Boyle believes that her team's overall record is quite deceiving for those on the outside looking in, those who haven't followed the team so far this season. A schedule designed to be difficult, designed to prepare her players for the rigors of Atlantic 10 play, helped pay dividends in this victory, especially with having to deal with a player like Griffin, who hit a late three to give her 17 points, which was under her 21.2 point per game average.

"We talked a lot about Griffin, she's a fantastic player," O'Boyle noted. "She can create her own shots so we really challenged our players on it. We tried to mix up what we were doing defensively. They run a lot of ball screens and you're trying to make sure everybody's on the same page, trying to upset that rhythm. Coaches can come up with all these great ideas, but if your players don't believe in it, don't go out there and execute, you can't do anything. I'm really lucky that these guys all buy in and play so hard."

Curteeona Brelove (below, #25) continued her strong play, leading the Rams with 20 points and eight rebounds, battling all day with the significant height of La Salle's interior defense. Mooriah Rowser was six-for-ten from the field, including two-for-two beyond the arc to score 16 points, while Keira Robinson added nine points and had four assists, enough to place her third all-time in VCU history with 426, five behind 1989 graduate Kelly Hoover for second all-time (431).

Attention for both teams now turn on each other, as the Spiders make the 6.1 mile trek to Siegel for the first of two regular season meetings between Richmond and VCU. In what has been a topsy-turvy season so far in the Atlantic 10, VCU will feel the pressure of holding serve at  home, while Richmond will try to steal a road victory, which must be done, multiple times, if you hope to either earn one of the two byes out of the new first round of the Atlantic 10 Championship Tournament, or, at worst, finish in the top eight so you can host a first round game at your arena, rather than travel to someone else's with a trip to the Richmond Coliseum and the tournament quarterfinals at stake.

Tip-off is set for 7pm Thursday night. The game will be live tweeted on The RVA Sports Network at @TheRVASportsNet as part of our new year-long "Year Of Women's Sports" initiative, using the hashtag #RVAW. The game can also be seen live on CBS Sports Network.