Dukes Show Their Bite, Spoil Senior Night: Mason Falls to JMU 66-54

Senior Amber Epps was honored

Mason came into their game Wednesday night against JMU knowing that if they won, they had a firm chance to secure a #6 seed in the CAA tournament and avoid having to play the Dukes possibly twice in 10 days. On senior night when Taleia Moton, Evelyn Lewis, and Amber Epps were all honored for all they have done for George Mason women's basketball, fortunes did not fall the Patriots way. As the final whistle sounded their would be no celebrating for Mason, as the Patriots would fall to the Dukes 66-54.

This was a game of scoring runs, in which JMU would build a lead as large as 12, and then Mason would clamp down to try to crawl closer. Mason however would never lead in this game, unless you count the first bucket they scored with 32 seconds in the game to make it 2-0.

The first half was a precursor to the second half for the Patriots. In the first-half Mason shot 40% from the field, compared to JMU's 33%, but yet the Patriots still trailed by 1 after the first 20 minutes. Mason had a huge opportunity in the first-half to take hold of the game, but failed to do it. JMU operated their offense, pushing the ball up and attempting 6 more attempts then the Patriots in the half. Even tho the Dukes weren't shooting efficiently, they still were able to score because of tough defense and scoring 7 points off of Mason's 8 turnovers in the first half. Keep in mind Mason only had 9 total turnovers in the whole game, so this sloppy play really kept JMU in the game early when they were having trouble hitting a shot.

Senior Taleia Moton was held in check with just 15 pts

Early in the game it seemed as though Mason was trying to set a tone by going strong in the paint with Evelyn Lewis, who was easily more physical than any post player on JMU's roster. In the first 7 minutes of the game Lewis went 3 for 3, all down low with layups and hooks within 3 feet of the basket. Overall Lewis would go 5 of 10 from the field for 10 points, but it seemed Mason seemed to abandon her towards the end of the first half and continuing into the second half when JMU would hit a few quick shots to push the lead to double digits. Mason would settle for tough 17-20 ft jump shots instead of hammering the ball down low where Lewis had complete control of the post. I seemed more to be more practical to take your chances with your size advantage down low even with the point differential, especially when Taleia Moton was having a bit of a off-night in which she missed drives and lay-ups that normally go in with her eyes closed.

Senior Evelyn Lewis 10 pts, 5 rbs 

The second half was a complete different story for the JMU offense, as they really put the pressure on the Mason defense by putting up 42 points and shooting 48% in the half. JMU's Kirby Burkholder began the half by hitting back-to-back 3's to contribute to her 13 points and 13 rebounds on the night. Overall the the Dukes scoring was complimented by their rebounding, with both Burkholder and  Nikki Newman(15 pts, 12 rbs) both grabbing double digit boards and points. Nikki Newman was truly a huge mismatch for the Patriots with her 6'2 frame and ability to drive hard or step back and shoot the jumper. But it wasn't just about one or two players carrying the Dukes to victory. JMU had 4 of the 5 starters scoring at least 13 points on the night, showing the balance of shot attempts across the court and thus putting pressure on the defense to secure all points of attack.

Amber Easter came off the bench to lead Mason with 18 points and 15 rebounds. Coach Porter did the classy thing and started seldom used senior Amber Epps in place of Easter for the first 3 minutes of the game.  Easter has definitely grown as a play-maker/do-it-all for the Patriots, but even she only shot 35% on 6 of 17 from the field. Overall the Patriots would keep themselves in it with some of the best free-throw shooting they've had all season, 15 of 16 for 93% in the second half, but they would get no closer then within 4 points with 4:07 remaining in the game.

With the loss against JMU, the Patriots have clinched the #7 seed for the CAA tournament and are set to meet the Northeastern Huskies (8-21, 6-12) on Thursday March 8th in the opening round match-up. Mason has met Northeastern twice this season, beating them big at home 75-62 but losing narrowly on the road in Boston 54-58.  Northeastern may only have won 6 of 18 games in conference, but in the last two and a half weeks they have won 5 of their last 6 in beating two of the CAA's top 4 teams ( James Madison, Hofstra). This is definatly a extremely tough matchup for Mason, as Northearstern seems to be getting hot at the right time, and the Patriots have recently gone cold losing their last 4 of 6.

Stay tuned for our tournament preview!