After two weekend road wins, the women’s basketball team will look to continue its run toward the top of the Atlantic 10 Conference when they host La Salle Friday night, followed by Richmond Sunday afternoon.

The Colonials rallied from a 13-point deficit to defeat the Dukes of Duquesne last Friday by two points. Two days later, GW downed St. Bonaventure by 21 to give the Colonials (17-6, 10-2 A-10) sole possession of second place in the A-10.

“You’re fighting for first place and you know you have to go on the road, so each game’s really important. To win back-to-back games on the road in those conditions, it should be a good confidence booster,” Colonials coach Joe McKeown said.

The Explorers (11-12, 7-5 A-10) are coming off a loss to Xavier; however, their lineup boasts sophomore sharp-shooter Carlene Hightower, who scored 23 against the Musketeers. The Colonials must also plan for junior Crista Ricketts, who leads the team in scoring at 14.1 points per game. Ricketts has missed two games this season due to injury, but she has returned to the team for the past two games. She scored 13 points against Xavier.

“When we scout teams, you’re trying to stop their best players from doing what they do well,” McKeown said. “(Hightower’s) really stepped up for them. Ricketts is an all-conference player who is just now coming back. They’re a very dangerous team and we’re going to have to be ready to play Friday night.”

Richmond (10-14, 5-7 A-10), travels to Foggy Bottom off a 56-54 upset of No. 22/23 (ESPN-USA Today /Associated Press) Temple. The Colonials defeated the Spiders 70-59 on Jan. 29 in Richmond.

“Richmond is a very talented team, I think they’re starting now to respond,” McKeown said. “I thought they played really hard against us down there. It was a terrific game. I think Richmond is one of the better teams in our league; their record may not show it, but they’re a team that could get hot at the end. We don’t want that at our expense.”