The Tribune

GRAND Bahamian Jonquel Jones and the No. 19/19 George Washington women’s basketball team have earned a No. 6 seed in the Spokane regional and will face No. 11 seed Gonzaga in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament.

The big game is set for 7:30pm March 20 at Gill Coliseum in Corvallis, Oregon. No. 3 seed Oregon State and No. 14 seed South Dakota State will also play their first-round game at the same venue on Friday. GW is slated to face the winner in the second round on Sunday, March 22.

The Atlantic 10 champion Colonials (29-3) earned the league’s automatic bid and will make their 16th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2008.

GW is 18-15 all-time in their 15 prior appearances, including 13-2 in the first round. The Colonials have reached the Sweet 16 four times, including back-to-back appearances in 2007 and 2008, and advanced to the Elite Eight in 1997.

The selection also marks A-10 Coach of the Year Jonathan Tsipis’ first in his three seasons as head coach. The No. 6 seed matches the 1996 and 2008 Colonials for the third-highest in programme history; GW earned its best slotting at No. 4 in 1995.

Ranked 11th in the RPI, GW will enter the NCAA Tournament with a 29-3 overall mark, a programme-record for wins in a season. The Colonials have won eight straight games and 27 of 28 since November 24. In addition, GW won its first A-10 title since 2003 and also claimed the regular-season crown with a 15-1 conference record.

Three Colonials collected A-10 All-Conference accolades, headlined by Jones, the A-10 Player and Defensive Player of the Year. The junior forward, who was also named the Most Outstanding Player of the A-10 Championship, is the only player in the league averaging a double-double with 15.5 points and a league-best 12.4 rebounds per game, which ranks sixth nationally.

Sophomore Caira Washington joined Jones on the First Team after averaging 12.4 points on a team-best 51.7 per cent shooting to go with 7.8 rebounds per contest. Freshman Kelli Prange earned a spot on the All-Rookie Team with 7.9 points and 5.7 rebounds per game.