Lucky Number Seven! Patriots Polish off William & Mary 82-70, End Six Game Losing Streak

Taleia Moton dropped 28 points on 53% shooting

The six game losing streak is finally over, and it comes in a critical conference game against in-state rival William and Mary. Both teams came in battling to get their second win in-conference, and continue to try to improve their standing before the upcoming CAA tournament seeding in March. Mason had a complete performance on the offensive end with 5 players scoring in double digits, including 4 starters, and outscoring the W&M Tribe by a 18 point margin in the second half to complete the come from behind victory.

 In terms of hustling hard and leaving it all on the court, this was no doubt Mason's best game of the season. After falling behind early by a 22-8 margin just 8 minutes into the game, Mason was able to keep their composure and patiently chip away at the lead and take it back close to midway through the second half. 

Taleia Moton had a huge scoring output, as she is known to do especially at home, dropping 28 points on 53% shooting from the field. Moton is the barometer for how well this team performs, and it was no more evident tonight when the Patriots trailed at halftime by 6 with Taleia only contributing 5 points. But she got hot at the right time, dropping 23 points in the last 20 minutes, to help the Patriots evaporate the deficit and build their own lead to the final margin of 12 points during the dwindling minutes of the game.

What helped Mason achieve this victory, other then Moton's efficient and high scoring night, was the ability of Amber Easter to score as well as the performance of the bench players. Amber Easter has been hot and cold since her early season injury, and in the last three games only had a total of 20 combined points. Tonight was different though, Easter was able to hit 7 of 10 from the field for 18 points to go along with 7 rebounds(4 offensive) and 2 steals. This was Easter's second highest scoring output of the season, her season high coming in the season opener against American with 20 points over two months ago. Last night's game was by far one of Easter's most complete performances of the season, and helped secure the victory for the home team and hopefully something we will see more of from a very multi-dimensional player.

The bench only had 12 points, but in a game where only 4 substitutes played 31 minutes, it was a solid night. The hot and cold spark plug Christine Weithman was the main contributor off the bench with 10 points in 16 minutes on the court, and hit 2 of 3 from behind the three point arc. All year she has shown flashes of greatness, especially from behind the arc, and her continuing contribution will be something the Patriots will rely on to start a new winning streak. Also freshman forward Rachel McNair contributed 5 rebounds(3 offensive) and 2 points in only 10 minutes on the court. Rebounding is huge for the Patriots, especially off the bench. For McNair to snare 3 offensive boards in limited court time is what lead to second chance points, and allowed Mason to rest starters while still getting solid production.

On the defensive side of the ball Mason played pretty solidly except for the early 16-0 run in the early minutes of the first half, in which W&M shot 51.6% from the field. The Patriot defense was able to contain W&M's star player Janine Aldridge to below her conference scoring average of  19.2 points per game, holding her to 18 points and limiting easy scoring opportunities. In the second half the Patriots shut down all of W&M's scorers, and held them to shooting a dismal 27.8% as a team. Mason lost the turnover battle but was able to make general defensive scheme adjustments in the second half that shut down both the outside and inside shooting, which held W&M to just 10 of 36 shooting in the last 20 minutes of play.

The Patriots are now tied with Towson for 8th in the CAA with a 2-4 conference record, and improve to  8-9 on the season overall. Mason will next host rival VCU (11-6) in the Patriot Center at 2 pm on Sunday, the 2nd game of a  3 night home-stand. 

Keith's Keys the Game: GMU vs. W&M

Mason enters Thursday's game against fellow CAA member William and Mary (7-5) with another road loss. The Mason has now lost their last 4 out of 5, and will need to quickly stop the bleeding for it not to affect their current 1-0 conference record.

What was key in the Patriots(7-5) last defeat  Norfolk State Spartans was a lack of rebounding. The Patriots were out-rebounded 45-33, and the only thing that kept Mason in the game was Christine Weithman coming off the bench  to hit 4 three-pointers. And once again their was not much production form either of the starting forwards in terms of productive scoring or rebounding. Both Evelyn Lewis and Janaa Pickard only combined for 8 of Mason's 33 rebounds, and a lack luster 10 total points of the 57 the Patriots scored.

What to Watch For:

William and Mary has been on a roller coast ride for the last month and a half. Since getting a win over Longwood on November 30th, a team Mason also defeated,  the Tribe has alternated wins and loses in each of their following competitions leading up to the present, going 4-3 in that time frame. The Tribe currently stand at 7-5, 0-1 in conference play after a loss to ranked Delaware.

In order for Mason to win this game they will have to rely on tough defense to defend the great shooters of William and Mary. Currently the Tribe has 4 players that average double digit scoring, with at least 3 players averaging double digit field goal attempts. This shows that William and Mary is a extremely balanced team and almost anyone on the floor is willing and able to score. This shows that they will score in bunches if not guarded correctly. William and Mary will test the perimeter defense of Taleia Moton and Rahneeka Saunders as the Tribe are averaging almost 36 more three-point attempts on the season, and have 4 players shooting atleast 32% from behind the arc on a minimum of 14 attempts. Those stats rank the Tribe 11th in the NCAA in total three point percentage in hitting just over 37% as a team. The Mason guards will need to put a star around the name Janine Aldridge, who tied for the lead in scoring for the tried with 13.8 per game and attempts 8 three-pointers per game.

Janine Aldridge #30--Shoots 40% from behind arc

The Tribe come in averaging 70 points per contest, while Mason hovers around 62. It will be important for Taleia Moton to be more a a distributor, and wait for good opportunities. To be successful tonight, Christine Weithman will need to provide some sort of impact off the bench like she did against Norfolk State, or to at least open up the floor to allow the forwards like Janaa Pickard to roam in a more open middle and allow easy jumpers.

This looks like it could be a shootout with William and Mary giving up about 65 points a game, and Mason showing the ability to sore having reached 80 points 3 times this season. In 3 of the 5 loses for Mason this season, players other then Taleia Moton have finished the game as the high scorer. This shows that for Mason to be successful, especially in a a run-and-gun game like this, the Patriots will need Taleia Moton to rebound from last game's slumber in which she had 11 points on 5 of 17 shooting, and return to being the floor general she was earlier in the season by taking more efficient shots.

Tip-off is at 7pm in Williamsburg, Virginia.