Mason Women Cruise to First Win

Matchup: GMU vs Oakland

Final: 59-48 W

Top GMU performer: Amber Easter, 11 points (4-17), 8 rebounds, 2 assists

     
        The Oakland Golden Grizzlies, led by their star Bethany Watterworth, came into Sunday's game heavily favored over the Patriots. It seemed, after Sunday's 59-48 victory, that no one had told George Mason that. The Patriots, led by Amber Easter and Taleia Moton who combined for 22 of Mason's 59 points, seemed to dominate Oakland from the start. George Mason dominated the boards, collecting 50 total rebounds, 20 of which were offensive boards. Everyone contributed to the battle on the boards, with Easter leading the way with 8 total rebounds.

         The Golden Grizzlies offense runs through Watterworth, who was held to only 17 points. Mason was able to frustrate her, sending defender after defender at her with their fast-paced defensive style. Mason kept a great tempo throughout the entire game, with Coach Porter urging them to push the ball during every possession. With such an up-tempo offensive plan one would expect Mason to turn the ball over frequently, but the Patriots had a positive assist to turnover ratio for the second straight game, with 17 assists to 14 turnovers. Meanwhile Oakland struggled with their turnovers, having 9 assists to 16 turnovers.

        The defense was very strong in Sunday's game, with 10 total blocks. The swatting Patriots were led by Janaa Pickard who had 4 blocks in the game, stifling Oakland's post play. Mason also dominated in almost every category. Points in the paint (32-26), Points off turnovers (11-7), second chance points (13-6), and one of the most important categories: Bench points (20-9). Coach Porter was definitely proud of Mason's team effort, with every single player that played minutes in the game contributing with at least one basket. It was afternoons like Sunday when Mason proved that when their offense is on, they can play with anybody.

       What to watch for: The freshmen for George Mason are beginning to contribute. Rachel McNair added 6 points and 2 assists in her 22 minutes, along with Talisha Watts who grabbed 7 boards and 2 blocks on defense. Look for these two to continue making an impact moving forward with this season. Amber Easter, who seemed to have an off-afternoon, still managed to score 11 points with 8 rebounds, but had 7 turnovers. Look for Easter to cut down on the turnovers and continue to put up good offensive numbers. The guard play and ball-handling of Taleia Moton and Rahneeka Saunders is very impressive. Both are very speedy guards who are able to hit the open player with good passes. Moton and Saunders stack up well against any guard combo out there.