Sports in Brief

March 3, 2011

Abiona eligible to return for one more season at GW

The Smith Center was filled Sunday with Senior Day activities for women’s basketball forward Ivy Abiona, complete with fans in shirts bearing her name, carrying signs and cheering loudly. One important fact was lost amid the celebrations: because Abiona is a redshirt senior, she still has 1 year of NCAA eligibility left, meaning she could return to play for the Colonials next season.

Abiona was focused on GW’s upcoming trip to the Atlantic 10 Championship Tuesday, saying the possibility of her return hasn’t been discussed.

“That has yet to be discussed, another year of eligibility,” Abiona said. “Going into this, I just want to have fun, just for us to work hard and really try to make up for a lot of our mistakes.”

Though Abiona, a master’s candidate in health policy at GW, petitioned for an additional year of eligibility this past season, she was redshirted for 2 years in her undergraduate career: sophomore year due to a knee injury and again her senior year after suffering a torn ACL in the off season. The two redshirts give Abiona, currently the team’s leader in blocked shots, 1 remaining year of eligibility at GW.

“Yeah, that’s grad school, it’s another year of playing for GW. I’ll have my legs under me, and it’ll be a lot of fun, I would seriously consider it,” Abiona said. “It would be like a dream come true.”