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First up: University of Delaware Blue Hens
Conference: Coastal Athletic Association (CAA)
Time: November 4 2024; 5 PM ET
Venue: Charles E Smith Center; Washington, DC
2023-24 Record: 11-20 (7-11 in CAA – 10th Place)
2025 Projection: 6th
Current Record: 0-0
Common Opponents: La Salle, Towson, Hampton
Last Time Out: 61-56 loss to GW in 2020-21 season
Broadcast: ESPN+
A much-anticipated seasons starts next week for GW WBB. After another down year in 2023-24, GW is projected to finish in 12th in the 15 team A10 this year. Because GW had what looks to be the best recruiting class of the McCombs era, expectations are higher for GW fans, so the coaching staff will be under pressure to deliver better than a 12th place finish.
Opponent Summary: GW WBB opens the 2024-25 campaign, in a preliminary to the Revolutionaries first men’s contest, against the University of Delaware on Monday evening at the Smith Center. The Blue Hens are members of the Coastal Athletic Conference (CAC), where they finished in 10th place last season with a 7-11 conference record and were 11-20 overall. Despite their overall record, they had quality victories over Vermont, American, and Duquesne in their out of conference schedule last year. This will be the first meeting between the two squads since the 2020-21 season, when GW won 61-56 at the Smith Center. Most of the key Blue Hens’ players return from last season, including the top two scorers. 5’11” Chloe Wilson averaged 11.5 ppg and 6.9 rpg, while Tara Cousins contributed 10.1 ppg from the backcourt. Both are graduate students. Graduate transfer Ella Wanzer from Binghamton (10.1 ppg) joins Cousins in the backcourt. Former GW Colonial Michelle Ojo (a Rizzotti recruit) will return for a final season after playing in only the first three contests last season before an injury. Ojo played in all 30 Delaware games during the 2022-23 season, averaging 6.5 ppg on 49% shooting from the field.
About the game: This game will highlight the contrasting states of these programs. The Blue Hens are an experienced team that features all of their key players from last season and are projected to finish in the middle of pack in the CAA. GW’s squad is all about new faces, with last year’s most productive players, Kamari Sims and Maxine Engel, averaging only 4.5 ppg and 2.5 ppg respectively. This opener provides a good test for the GW squad and a first opportunity to assess the potential of the new talent. As the coaching staff will be experimenting with different combinations to determine effective rotations for later in the season, it will be too early to draw many meaningful conclusions, but non-the-less, it will provide a first real look this season’s incoming recruiting class.
And so, the much-anticipated season (for both WBB and MBB) begins.