George Washington and Temple will enter the Atlantic 10 Tournament the same as last year, as one and two seeds, respectively.

The Colonials (24-5, 12-2 A-10) and Owls (19-11, 12-2 A-10) will be favorites to win the tournament – last year they were both eliminated in the semifinals.

“It’s a new life, it’s anyone’s game,” UMass coach Marnie Dacko said.

“We’ve seen Saint Joseph’s get to the finals and they had to play in and make it. I think here it’s such a tight race, you look at Temple and George Washington, pretty much the top two teams in our league and then I think it’s anyone’s game from there.”

Xavier won last year as a three seed over No. 5 Saint Joseph’s, 65-59, before losing in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

This year’s conference tournament could be just as unpredictable. Temple lost by double-digits on the road to Dayton earlier in the season, a team UMass, the final seed in the tournament, beat by double-digits two weeks ago.

The Owls played a difficult non-conference schedule, and although they finished with a 7-9 record, it undoubtedly prepared them for the A-10 schedule, which didn’t posses as many ranked teams.

Temple lost games to Georgia, Duke, Stanford, Maryland and Rutgers, all of who are currently in the Associated Press Top 25, with the latter three all being ranked in the top six.

Point guard Ashley Morris leads the Owls in scoring (15.1 points per game) and assists (129) and her team will take on the winner of Richmond and Duquesne.

Though the tournament will be anyone’s to win, GW is the only nationally ranked team and will be the favorites. The No. 13 Colonials shared the A-10 Regular-Season Championship with Temple and also played a tough non-conference schedule.

GW defeated Virginia and Texas A’M who are currently ranked and, similar to Temple, lost to Rutgers.

Kimberly Beck was recently named A-10 Player of the Year and leads the offensive attack for the Colonials. The senior point guard led the conference in assists per game (6.32) and also averaged 13.6 points over the regular season.

Beck’s teammate, Jessica Adair, was also named to the A-10 All-Conference first team. The junior center used her large frame to provide GW with a low-post scoring threat and currently leads the team with 15.6 points per game.

The A-10 is a conference in which any team can beat any other team on any given night, but the top three seeded teams possess the most dominant players in the league.

In addition to GW and Temple, Xavier (21-8, 11-3 A-10) has the players to return to the NCAA Tournament for the second consecutive season

Sophomore Amber Harris led the conference in blocked shots (77) and also led the Musketeers in scoring with 15.5 points per game.

“It’s like survival of the fittest, whoever is going in and making plays is

going to be able to move on,” Dacko said of the conference tournament.

UMass struggled in A-10 play this season, especially away from home, but the Minutewomen won’t need any motivation for this postseason.

The team’s leading scorers, Kate Mills and Pam Rosanio, will be looking to extend their senior careers. The Minutewomen have no chance of making the NCAA Tournament or the NIT if they don’t win the conference tournament, and they don’t want to replicate last year’s first round exit.

Mills was named to the A-10 All-Conference second team despite being in the top 10 in scoring, field-goal percentage, rebounding, free-throw percentage and blocked shots.

Rosanio is a four-year starter and the face of the program. A fierce competitor, she will be playing close to home and have one final chance to prove she can lead her team.

Mike Connors can be reached at [email protected]