The GW women’s basketball team played its last home game of the season Sunday. And for GW’s four seniors, it was their last Smith Center appearance. Guards Kristeena Alexander and Corrin Reid, forward Petra Dubovcova and center Leslie Carlson donned the buff and blue one last time for the loyal home crowd of 2,567 against the visiting Rams.
The seniors will lead GW’s march to Philadelphia in search of an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and the team’s first automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament in five years. They will try to reach that goal March 3-5 at Temple’s Liacouras Center, but Sunday’s game was about bidding adieu to their fans.
Alexander and Dubovcova have been impact players for three seasons. Dubovcova put a finishing touch on her GW career with a 16-point performance in her final home game, just three days after notching her 1,000th career point. Alexander, last season’s A-10 Sixth-Player of the Year winner, scored five points and had 10 assists in her Smith Center finale.
Reid and Carlson have shown tremendous improvement during their four-year tenure with the Colonials, becoming valuable role players this year. Reid has taken Alexander’s spot as the team’s sixth player. Carlson played scarcely throughout her career, fighting knee injuries for much of her four-year stay.
The seniors’ future plans are as diverse as their style of play. Dubovcova plans to take her game to professional leagues in Europe, after returning to her native Slovakia. Carlson said she would like to move to Florida and find work in advertising, while Alexander looks forward to “playing with friends and enjoying life.” Reid said she would like to “earn money to make her parents proud.”
The GW fans will surely miss the four hardworking seniors, but their seasons are far from over. The seniors will suit up in Philadelphia in search of their first A-10 title, and then likely for one last hurrah in the NCAA Tournament.
