Basketball (Women's )
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Women's basketball began at GW in the 1912- 1913 season. In that year, Theodosia Darling Seibold Nelson, Class of 1914, organized the University's first women's basketball team. From its beginnings, Women's Basketball was a strong part of women's sports at the University, though there is little documentation on the subject for the next six decades. Two events that dramatically changed women's athletics at GW were the enactment of "Title IX" governmental legislation in 1973 and the creation of the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics for Women. Women's Athletics were under the direction of Lynn Harpster George from 1975-1987. The 1970s and 1980s produced several good basketball teams, two of which (1980 and 1988) won 18 games.
In the fall of 1989, Joe McKeown became the head coach of the Colonial Women and his first squad was 14- 14. The following year the team won 23 games and made its first NCAA Tournament appearance, defeating the University of Richmond before losing in the second round to North Carolina State.
The very next season, 1991-92, the Colonials exploded onto the national scene, climbing as high as sixth in the Associated Press Women's Basketball Poll and staying there for three weeks. It remains the highest ranking for any women's program in the history of GW athletics. To cap off the season, the Charles E. Smith Athletics Center played host to its first NCAA Tournament game as the Colonials scored a 70-69 triumph against the nation's only unbeaten team, Vermont. After the season, McKeown was invited to be a floor coach at the 1992 Olympic Trials, assisting the U.S. Olympic Women's Basketball Team in Colorado Springs, CO.
The 1992 season was even more successful concluding with 25 victories, an Atlantic 10 Tournament Championship and a second berth in the NCAA. The Colonial Women edged previously unbeaten Vermont in the first round at Smith Center then lost at the University of Virginia. In '93, McKeown's team marked its third straight 20-victory season, resulting in a National Women's Invitation Tournament bid and final mark of 20-11.
In the ‘94 season, GW posted a 23-8 record and shared the Atlantic 10 regular-season championship with Rutgers. The Colonial's also made their third NCAA Tournament appearance in four seasons defeating Alabama-Birmingham in a first-round game at Smith Center before falling at Southern California in the second round.
The team finished a perfect 16-0 in the A-10 and reached the "Elite Eight" in NCAA tournament action. With the ‘98 season the Colonials completed their 8th 20-game season. The Colonials finished with an overall 20-10, with 12-4 in the Atlantic 10 (6-3 in the West). Receiving an NCAA invitation, GW defeated the University of Georgia, 74-72, in the first round. GW lost (67-75) to the University of Connecticut. In 1998-99 the team finished 2nd in the Atlantic 10 West. During the 19-9 season the team was ranked as high as No. 13 by the AP polls. In the 1999-00 season the team finished with a 26-6 (14-2 in the Atlantic 10) record, was invited to the NCAA, winning their first game 79 to 72 but losing to Notre Dame in the second round.
The Colonials put together eight consecutive 20-win seasons and won five Atlantic 10 regular-season championships from 1991-1998, reaching the postseason each year. The 1995-96 campaign saw GW post its second straight 26-win season, tie a school record at the time for wins in a season, make its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in six years and capture its third consecutive Atlantic 10 regular-season championship. The Colonials also won their second A-10 Tournament title that year, and their 15-game winning streak was the longest in the nation at one point.
In 1996, GW progressed to the "Sweet 16" in NCAA tournament action. The 1996-97 season was the most successful campaign in the history of George Washington women's basketball. With a 28-6 record, the Colonials set a school record for victories in a season.
From the website (2007): [1] Joe McKeown enters his 18th season as head coach at George Washington as the Atlantic 10 Conference's winningest women's college basketball coach in terms of total victories (386) and league wins (224). He also is among the winningest coaches in the history of women's basketball, owning a .736 career winning percentage in two decades of coaching.
Joe McKeown, who became the 45th Division I women's basketball coach to amass 450 career victories with a win at Temple on Feb. 24, 2006, owns a 454-163 overall record, including a 386-143 mark in 17 years with the Colonials. He is by far the winningest mentor in school history, patrolling the GW sideline for more than two-thirds of the program's 559 triumphs.
McKeown's coaching record ranks among some of Division I's elite. He is the 15th winningest coach, both active and all-time, in terms of winning percentage (.736), while his 454 career wins places him in a tie for 33rd on the active list and in a tie for 42nd all-time. His 17 20-win seasons are tied for the 20th most all-time.
McKeown was voted the Atlantic 10's Coach of the Year in his second season (1991) and has received the honor a total of four times (1991, 1997, 2000 and 2002). He also was a National Coach of the Year nominee after leading the Colonials to the Sweet 16 in 1995 and the Elite Eight in 1997.
Under McKeown's tutelage, four of his charges have been named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year a total of five times. Debbie Hemery was the first to earn the honor in 1995. Tajama Abraham won it two years later (1997) and Noelia Gomez garnered the award in 1999. Cathy Joens became GW's first two-time recipient of the honor, winning it in 2003 and being named co-Player of the Year in 2004.
Anna Montañana became the most recent Colonial to receive All-America accolades, earning WBCA/Kodak honorable mention laurels in 2004-05. During McKeown's tenure, five other Colonials have earned All-America accolades. Cathy Joens earning Associated Press honorable mention and WBCA/Kodak honorable mention honors in 2003-04. Gomez was named an honorable mention Kodak All-American in 1999. Abraham was a first-team Kodak All-American in 1997, after receiving honorable mention recognition in 1996. Hemery received honorable mention Associated Press All-America recognition in 1995, along with teammate Darlene Saar. Saar also was a 1993 honorable mention Kodak All-American.
In addition to McKeown's considerable success on the court, he also has produced winning teams off the court, most notably in the classroom. His philosophy of what it means to be a student-athlete has made well-rounded indivduals out of the athletes he has coached.
During McKeown's stint in Foggy Bottom, GW has received Atlantic 10 Academic All-Conference recognition 15 times and six players have been named CoSIDA District 2 Academic All-Americans. Of those four, Jennifer Shasky was a Rhodes Scholar nominee and another, Kristin McArdle, received a Fulbright Scholarship. Colleen McCrea, a 1997 graduate who majored in accounting, received the GW School of Business Distinguished Scholar Award after posting the highest grade-point average of all graduating business students. More recently, 2003 graduate Lindsey Davidson was named the NCAA Woman of the Year representative for Washington, DC, and Cathy Joens was selected as the Atlantic 10's Student-Athlete of the Year in 2004.
On an individual level, McKeown has passed several milestones in his years as the Colonials' head coach. McKeown reached 100 career victories in his second season at GW, his fifth season overall as a Division I court boss. In December 1995, he reached the 200-win mark in his 10th season. McKeown won the 250th game of his career in March 1997 and his 300th victory came in the 1999-2000 season against Maryland-Eastern Shore. It only took two more seasons for him to notch his 350th win, a feat he accomplished three years ago with a triumph against Temple on January 18, 2002. McKeown recorded career win No. 400 versus La Salle on January 31, 2004 at the Charles E. Smith Athletics Center. Last February, McKeown became the 45th Division I coach to reach 450 career victories with a thrilling overtime win at Temple.
Also see the Women's Basketball website (2007) at:[2]
Document Information
Images: 2
Photographic Credit: University Relations photo collections; Cherry Tree yearbook
Author or Source: Women's Basketball website (2007)at:[3]; Joe McKeown (2007)[4]
Document Location: University Archives
Date Added to Encyclopedia: December 21, 2006
Prepared by: G. David Anderson, University Archivist and Historian
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