Colonials Have Major Ambition

GW Ranked Among The Nation's Best

When Joe McKeown arrived at George Washington in 1989, he aspired to bring his program to the heights of women's college basketball. And while his school was lumped into a group that came to be known as the mid-majors, the distinction seemed meaningless in a time when it was common for small schools to dream big.

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Louisiana Tech, a mid-major, joined Tennessee as one of the game's early dynasties. From 1982 to 1999, 20 mid-majors came within two victories of a national championship. During that stretch, schools such as Old Dominion, Long Beach State, Western Kentucky and Louisiana-Monroe reached the national semifinals.

But to McKeown's chagrin, the women's Final Four increasingly has become the domain of the game's bluebloods, or as he calls them, the "Foot Locker" schools.

"In the last 10 years, the landscape has changed so much," said McKeown, who is starting his 19th season as GW coach. "It was inevitable that the small schools would really get chopped away at by the big schools."

Schools in traditional power conferences increased their budgets to field more competitive teams. Expanded television coverage widened the gap between big and small, giving more exposure to schools from power conferences.

While parity flourished in the men's game and more recently in football, smaller schools have been squeezed out of the highest levels of women's basketball. Not since Wade Trophy winner Jackie Stiles led Southwest Missouri State to the 2001 Final Four has a school from outside the six power conferences reached the final weekend of the women's tournament.

That could all change this season if McKeown has his way. With a strong nucleus of players back from last season's round-of-16 run, George Washington has carved out a niche as the mid-major most likely to crash the party.

"That's the destination," Colonials point guard Kimberly Beck said. "The Final Four and beyond."

As in recent years, the rankings reflect the domination of the power-conference schools, with the usual suspects Tennessee and Connecticut atop the preseason polls. But George Washington, after rising as high as No. 8 in the national rankings last season, checks in at No. 13 in the preseason coaches' poll and at No. 14 according to Associated Press poll voters. The Colonials are the only team not from a power conference that is ranked in either poll.

"We are carrying the flag for smaller schools," said McKeown, who has coached all 14 of the Colonials' NCAA tournament appearances.

Last year, the Colonials swept through the Atlantic 10 regular season with a 14-0 mark on the way to 28 victories, which tied the program record. Even after stumbling against Saint Joseph's in the Atlantic 10 tournament, George Washington knocked off Boise State and Texas A&M before falling to top-seeded North Carolina in the round of 16.

Kenan Cole is the only Colonials starter not returning from last season. The bulk of that talented lineup returns this season, led by Beck, the 5-foot-8 senior who is considered the team's floor general.