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WASHINGTON -- When womens basketball players at George Washington learned this past offseason that the school had named a new coach for their program, they quickly turned to their cell phones and a team group chat to disseminate any information they could dig up on the hire.It didnt take long before a string of impressive YouTube highlights of a quick and crafty 5-foot-6 guard from UConn began to circulate. The team sentiment quickly swung from curiosity to shock and excitement.In the team group message we talked like, Are you kidding me, this stud is going to be our coach? senior guard Hannah Schaible said.The stud was 1996 Wade Trophy winner Jennifer Rizzotti, who in April signed on as coach at George Washington after 17 seasons at Hartford, where she won 316 games en route to becoming the winningest coach in America East Conference history. Rizzotti is George Washingtons 10th coach and first female coach since Jennifer Bednarek in the 1988-89 season.For many, Rizzottis departure from Hartford -- which she led to five conference championships and six NCAA tournament appearances -- was received with the same level of shock as that of her newly inherited roster. Rizzotti, 41, had said that few schools could get her to uproot her family, which includes two sons and husband Bill Sullivan, who joins her on the bench in Foggy Bottom as an associate head coach.George Washington, however, was on that selective list, especially after coach Jonathan Tsipis had rebuilt the Colonials in his four seasons there before leaving to coach Wisconsin in March.I wanted to go to a program that was successful, rather than a program that I had to rebuild, so that initially made the job attractive to me -- because the coach was leaving for a bigger job and not leaving because he was fired, Rizzotti said. Theres already an established winning culture here and a foundation of doing things the right way.Geno Auriemma, Rizzottis longtime mentor after playing for him at UConn and then serving as an assistant coach on his gold-medal winning team in the Rio Olympics, has complete confidence in her ability to succeed in her new role. And unlike others, Auriemma said he was not surprised by Rizzottis decision to leave for George Washington.I think there has been opportunities for Jen to move in the past, but for whatever reasons, she didnt think that the time was right, said Auriemma, who added that he and Rizzotti had spoken briefly about the challenges that come with transitioning to another program. There was never a feeling of, I never want to move or Im afraid to move; the timing was never right.I knew that people werent going to stop pursuing Jen, so the fact that she left doesnt surprise me one bit.Rizzotti inherited a George Washington program that has impressed in recent years as it works toward regaining its once consistent NCAA tournament presence under former coach Joe McKeown. Between 1999-2008, George Washington made nine straight NCAA tournament appearances, including consecutive trips to the Sweet 16 in 2007-08. In the past two seasons, George Washington won back-to-back A-10 championships but lost in the first round of the NCAA tournament both times.Rizzotti wont have to rebuild the program, but she will have to retool the roster now that Jonquel Jones, the face of the program the past two seasons, was selected No. 6 overall in the WNBA draft. Helped by Jones 14.6 rebounds per game in an abbreviated season due to injury, George Washington led the nation in rebounding (48.6 per game) in 2015-16. Point guard Lauren Chase, who ranked 15th in the country in assists last season, has also graduated.The Colonials were picked fourth in the A-10 preseason coaches poll. If you ask Rizzotti, however, thats exactly where she wants to be to start her first season in her new home.I kind of had a feeling that we wouldnt be a favorite to win the conference, but we certainly wouldnt be picked 14th, either, Rizzotti said. Thats a pretty good situation to be in your first year.Without Jones, Rizzotti will rely heavily on senior forward Caira Washington, an A-10 preseason first-team selection, in the frontcourt. Along with junior forward Kellie Prange as well as graduate transfer forward Lexi Martins, who led the nation in total rebounds a year ago while at Lehigh, Rizzotti believes the team can remain dominant on the boards.In addition to Washington, the team will also turn to junior guard Brianna Cummings for a breakout season on the wing. A former five-star recruit, the 5-foot-10 Cummings emerged last season as a formidable scorer for the Colonials, demonstrating an ability to both get to the rim and consistently connect from midrange.The big question for the Colonials is at the tip of the backcourt, where Rizzotti will juggle between two inexperienced point guards in sophomore Mei-Lyn Bautista and junior Camila Tapias to run the floor.George Washington is off to a 1-1 start, delivering the first win of the Rizzotti era on Sunday with a 56-45 victory over Princeton. Players like Washington are optimistic about the teams potential.Weve been lucky enough to have a great coaching staff that has come in and changed the program for the better, Washington said. Not every change is bad.Rizzotti admits that she has first-season nerves, a feeling she hasnt had to deal with in almost two decades. And more than anything, Rizzotti has no interest in a new coachs grace period.I want to make it a quick adjustment and a quick transition so what theyre used to -- which is winning -- doesnt go away, she said. I dont want to lose that sensation and that feeling. Yeah, I feel the pressure. Air Max 1 Nz . Aside from the trilogy main event title fight, there are a number of intriguing matchups in the heavyweight, welterweight and lightweight divisions. Nike Air Max 720 Nz . And when it opened, every player was at his stall. Thats a sure sign that a team is in a slump and is searching for answers. "Its embarrassing to be at home and play the way we did," said defenceman Josh Gorges. http://www.airmaxnzwholeale.com/cheap-air-max-flair-nz.html .C. at the helm of the top team in the Eastern Conference. His tenure as the GM in Vancouver was all too brief. Though he led the Canucks to what was then a franchise record-shattering campaign in just his second season, Nonis was gone and replaced one year later. Air Max 90 Sale Nz . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Air Max 95 New Zealand .H. -- Matt Kenseth made it 2 for 2 in the Chase, holding off teammate Kyle Busch to win Sunday at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. DETROIT -- Tom Rowes first two games in charge of an NHL team lasted longer than regulation, making him sweat it out to earn his first taste of success.Aleksander Barkov scored on a breakaway 2:04 into overtime to lift the Florida Panthers to a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night, giving their interim coach his first victory.The Panthers outplayed Detroit after a rough start. They lost 2-1 in a shootout at Chicago in Rowes debut on Tuesday night.In between periods I was saying, `We deserve it, Rowe recalled.Rowe said equipment manager Teddy Richards gave him the game puck as a keepsake. Rowe coached Floridas AHL affiliates in Portland and San Antonio and was an assistant with Carolina before moving into the Panthers front office and then behind the bench to replace the fired Gerard Gallant.Big win, first for him, Panthers captain Derek MacKenzie said. Hopefully, theres many more.The Red Wings extended their point streak to five games after losing four straight and nine of 11, but were fortunate to get anything positive out of a night in which they struggled at both ends of the ice.We should feel very lucky that we got one, Detroit defenseman Niklas Kronwall said.The Red Wings went ahead 1:23 into the game when Henrik Zetterberg scored on their first shot, ending a six-game drought.We weathered the storm, Rowe said. The beginning of the game they came out hard on us, but we were able to get out of the first period with a tie.The Panthers were close to skating into the second period with the lead.Floridas Vincent Trocheck had a goal negated late in the opening period when Detroit coach Jeff Blashill challenged that Panthers defenseman Jason Demers was offside. Demers then scored with 1:45 left in the first, pulling the Panthers into a tie on a shot that was redirected off Detroit defenseman Danny DeKeyser.The Panthers put much more pressure on Petr Mrazek, who stopped 28 shots in regulatioon, than Detroit did on Roberto Luongo, who faced just 13 shots over the first two periods and had just 18 saves through three periods.ddddddddddddhen you outplay someone like that, theres a good chance youre going to outshoot them, Blashill said. They outplayed us certainly in one area because we turned too many pucks over.Detroit had a power play with 3:14 left in regulation when MacKenzie was called for goaltender interference, but couldnt take advantage of the opportunity.On a night in which Detroit didnt generate many scoring chances, it was fortunate get a goal early in the game. Florida defenseman Aaron Ekblad made a no-look, between-the-legs pass behind him in his teams end of the ice, and it went off a teammate before Zetterberg got to the loose puck. Zetterberg took it from the right circle and into the slot for a backhander that went past Luongo.Rowe insisted he didnt have a problem with Ekblads pass.A little too risky, but we dont want to take creative plays out of our players hands, he said.Demers scored in a 4-on-4 situation on a sequence off a faceoff in which Floridas other three skaters touched the puck.Game notes The Red Wings have been banged up this season, losing players at every position to injuries, and may have taken another hit in the first period when forward Justin Abdelkader left with a lower-body injury. I dont think hes going to be out that long, but well see, Blashill said. ... Rowe and Gallant, who was fired Sunday, are former Red Wings players. ... Detroit F Drew Miller along with Florida D Dylan McIlrath and F Shawn Thornton were healthy scratches.UP NEXTPanthers: Play at Ottawa on Saturday in fourth of five-game road trip.Red Wings: Start a three-game road trip Saturday at Pittsburgh.---Follow Larry Lage at http://www.twitter.com/larrylage ' ' '