The Dog Days of Winter: Mason Falls against JMU, Host the Northeastern Huskies Thursday

Just when Mason (11-11, 5-6) seemed to be turning their road woes around, they lose a critical game in nail-biting fashion 49-45 against the Dukes of James Madison (17-5, 8-3) in Harrisonburg.

The road loss against JMU is not only heart breaking because the win could have put them into a tie for 5th or possibly 4th in the CAA, but because Mason had almost every opportunity to win the game in the second half and still came out with a "L". The Patriots by no means shot well on the night, only 31% as a team from the field, but compared to JMU' terrible shooting (22%) it should've been enough to win them the game. JMU's low shooting percentage is no doubt in part due to the tough defense that the Patriots put on the Dukes, but this aggressive defense is also one of the factors that helped JMU win the game.

In the game JMU would never have a lead larger than 7 points, and that lead came with 10:41 left in the second half. The 7 point lead with 10:41 left  was also the last time JMU would score a field goal the rest of the game, yet Mason was still unable to overtake the Dukes to win the contest. Over that 10 minute span with the score at 41-34, and even with inability to hit a jumper, JMU forced the ball to the hoop and was able to convert free-throws in order to seal the ballgame away. Anyone who watched this game and saw the statistic for overall free-throws attempted, could plainly see why JMU was victorious in this game down the stretch. Time and time again on this blog we have stressed the need for Mason to force and convert more free-throws, because they truly are "free points".

Lauren Whitehurst had 12 rebounds vs. GMU

In the 4 point loss at JMU, Mason was only able to get FOUR total free-throw attempts compared to the Dukes' TWENTY-NINE attempts. This is not just a lopsided stat, it is almost unfathomable.  Their are a few ways you can justify the horrible ratio above, either that the referees were overwhelmingly biased to JMU, or that in reality the Dukes just played harder on the offensive end to force the ball inside and out to create shot opportunities. I'm going with the latter. The fact is the JMU forwards of Toia Giggett, Lauren Whitehurst, and Crystal Ross attempted 16 of the total 29 free-throws on the night, which shows their was a game plan to pound the ball inside to either score or to force the ref into calling a foul.

Another stat that goes along with the lopsided free-throw attempts, is the fact that Mason got destroyed on the offensive boards by a margin of 16 to 28 in favor of JMU. These 28 offensive boards would lead to the 19 second chance points that the Dukes compiled in the game. Now bring together the uneven free-throw attempts, the lack of offensive rebounding, and the fact that Mason turned the ball over 6 times (18 total in the game) in the critical 10 minute span to end the game; mix it all together and it is a recipe for defeat.

#32 Deanna Kerkhof--14ppg

On Thursday night the Patriots will look to go to .500 in conference play as they take on the bottom dweller Northeastern Huskies (4-18, 2-9) in Fairfax. Mason last faced Northeastern on January 12th in Boston and were narrowly defeated 58-54. In that game Deanna Kerkhof dropped 25 points for the Huskies, her second highest output through 22 games this season, while Mason would be lead by Taleia Moton's 21 points. Deanna is a tall (5'11) and dynamic guard who, even though is only averaging around 14 ppg, is able to score in bunches and can drop 20+ any night of the week. It will be the job of the Mason coaching staff to pin-point her on the court this time around. Another player to watch out for is play maker Jamie Conroy who is averaging just around 9 points and 5 assists per game. Jamie's ability to see the open court so well translates over to the defensive end, where she leads the Huskies in total steals on the season. Look for Jamie to be on the court for most of the night trying to cause mayhem for the Mason guards, as shes ranks second on the team in average minutes  played with 34 per game.

Saunders is 2nd on the team w/1.5 Stls per game 

For Mason to be victorious and avoid the sweep by Northeastern, the Patriots will have to force the Huskies into more turnovers then they did in the first match-up. The Huskies on the season are averaging an abundant 19 turnovers per game, but the Patriots were only able to force 9 in the first match-up. Turnovers often lead to easy scoring opportunities, and when Mason forced 9, they were able to convert those mistakes into 18 points against Northeastern. So if Mason can intensify the defense, led by play makers Rahneeka Saunders and Taleia Moton, then the Patriots should find themselves with an exponentially greater amount of easy scoring opportunities than they did in the first meeting.

Mason return to the Patriot Center where they have played  dominantly this season going 8-3 at home and 4-1 against CAA opponents. Since Northeastern's victory against Mason on January 12th, the Huskies have lost 6 of the last 7 games. 


Tip-off is set for 7pm, and you can listen live at WGMUradio.com for all the action.