Compared to GW teams of past years, the 1997-’98 GW women’s basketball team is having a tough time winning at home.

The Colonial women, who are currently 4-4 at the Smith Center this season, have not had such a poor record at home for quite some time.

From the start of the 1994 season through last season, GW had lost just three games at the Smith Center. The last time the Colonial women lost four games or more at home was the 1989-’90 season, when they went 8-5 in the Smith Center.

“You’d think you’d play better at home, but we haven’t,” GW head coach Joe McKeown said. “We’ve won on the road against some tough teams. I mean we won at UCLA and at Georgetown, and those are both tough places to play. Maybe we’re just better off on the road this year.”

The reasons behind the poor home record are numerous. The loss of three seniors, including GW’s all-time leading scorer Tajama Abraham, is perhaps the biggest factor in GW’s sub-par record so far this season.

“We had three great seniors and replacing people like that is almost impossible,” McKeown said. GW also has been hit hard by injuries this season, a problem the team avoided for the most part a year ago.

But Monday’s 76-47 win over La Salle brought back memories of dominating GW squads of past years, according to McKeown.

“This game felt really good because we’ve been struggling so much at home,” McKeown said. “The fans shouldn’t give up on us yet.”