Patriots Fall to JMU, Lose Third Straight to the Dukes 54-64 in CAA Quarterfinals

The Patriots came as close as 4 points aginst the JMU Dukes on Friday in the quarterfinals of the CAA tournament, but just could not come up with the right stuff to finish. JMU would win the game 64-54 to advance to the semifinals of the CAA tournament against Drexel.

Mason would be defensively shutdown by JMU's defenders Tarik Hislop and Nikki Newman who forced a combined 9 steals on the night. The Patriot's would go into halftime with a 4 point lead though, but would be unable to handle the strategy the Dukes would throw at them in the second half.


In the second half, JMU would switch back and forth between a one-on-one defense and a zone. This defensive strategy by the Dukes helped hold the Patriots to 33.3% shooting in the second half, which would lead to Mason losing the rebounding battle 18 to 24 in the half. The JMU defense would contain Taleia Moton to 4 of 13 shooting from the field in the second half, as well as holding Amber Easter to 1 of 4 shooting in  the half. The defensive statistics as well as points off of turnovers, 5 to 14 in favor of JMU, is what helped fuel JMU to the victory. Overall JMU would be more aggressive down low and driving in the lane, which lead to the high differential of free-throw attempts 15 to 37 in favor of JMU. Overall the aggressiveness of JMU's forward Nikki Newman on the boards and forcing fouls down low really put the nail in the coffin for the Patriots.

Mason finishes the season with 15 wins and 16 losses overall, but once again improving on the previous year's record. Watching the Patriots this year should give Mason fans a lot of hope for next season, as the trio of  Amber Easter, Janaa Pickard, and Rahneeka Saunders return and will be the big time play-makers in the CAA as they average 12, 8.5, and 7.5 points per game. The achievements of seniors Taleia Moton, Evelyn Lewis, and Amber Epps cannot be stressed enough in helping this George Mason program achieve its first tournament win in six years.

The positive legacy that these seniors leave behind will leave a lasting impact for years to come on this program. Best of luck to them in the the future. Thank you for your hard work.

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!

The Silencing of the Rams: Mason Gets Sweep of VCU, Looks Forward to Senior Night Against JMU

The Patriots (14-14, 8-9) traveled to the Verizon Wireless Arena in Richmond just one day after the Mason men's basketball team was defeated on national television by the VCU men's basketball team. The women came into the game seeking to settle the score between the in-state rivals, as well as improve their overall record back to an even .500. The Patriots did this in convincing fashion by securing the lead with 11:13 left in the first half and never giving it up until they had sealed the victory 69-59.

Lewis had a solid night w/ 8 and 10

As stated in our preview for this match-up, in order for the Patriot's to secure a victory they would have to limit the threat of VCU's all-star forward Courtney Hurt. And while Mason did not by any means take her out of the game or shut her down, the defensive presence by Evelyn Lewis and Janaa Pickard held Hurt to below her averages in both scoring and rebounding. Courtney Hurt came in shooting 45.9% from the field, and the Mason defense was able to limit her to only hitting 8 of 19 from the field (42%).

The second thing we  stated Mason needed to focus on was limiting the effectiveness of the role players on VCU, thus putting more pressure on Courtney Hurt to force shots and put the team on her back. Mason did this to a certain extent, allowing only one VCU player not having the name "Hurt" on the back their jersey to score in double-digits. Andrea Barbour of VCU had 18 points on 50%  shooting from the field, but the other three Ram starters only combined for 6 of 19 (31.5%)  from the field and 14 total points. Mason effectively played team defense for the full 40 minutes, forcing the Rams into 17 turnovers with tough on-ball pressure coming from Rahneeka Saunders and Taleia Moton who both had 3 steals apiece.

Strickland had 8 points in 18 mins

Overall Mason was able to get their second win against VCU this season because of a strong TEAM game. Taleia Moton and Amber Easter combined for 35 points on 13 of 26 (50%) shooting from the field. Evelyn Lewis had a very solid offense night to go along with her great defensive performance, scoring 8 points (4 of 7) and hauling in 8 rebounds. And to top it all off, the most surprising figure of the night had to be in the column of Sophomore guard Cierra Strickland. Strickland, who came into the game only averaging 1.7 points in extremely limited action, scored 8 points in just 18 minutes of court time. Solid bench production like this is what separates an average Mason team, from being a a good or great basketball team.

Mason looks to continue their success as they conclude the regular season at home in the Patriot Center celebrating Senior Night. The Patriot will be playing an incredibly crucial game for the final CAA standings against JMU. A win could give the Patriots a #6 seed in the CAA tournament which would give them the advantage of playing the latest game of the first round, thus the most time to prepare for the opening round match-up. A win over JMU and achieving a #6 seed would match the Patriots up with the #11 seed, who based on Wednesday night's results, will most likely be Georgia State whom Mason just defeated in overtime a few weeks ago. From that point on a win would move them into a match-up with the #3 seed, whom based on Wednesday's results could be either Drexel or Hofstra. Mason has played both teams only once, and has beaten Drexel in Philly (56-51) while losing to Hofstra (70-82) in Fairfax.

A win over JMU will not be easy, as the Patriot have already fallen to the Dukes on the road 45-49 in a nail-biter. A victory tomorrow over a top 4 CAA opponent is important not only for team confidence, but it can potentially give the Patriot's an easier road to the conference championship game.

Looking for another reason you may or may not want to win tomorrow?  If Mason were to lose tomorrow, get the #7 seed and still advance past the first round of the CAA tournament, they would face the #2 seed JMU Dukes guaranteed in the second round. Playing the same team twice in a matter of a 10 days can be a good or bad thing, but playing a good team like the Dukes to advance in a one-and-done tournament would most likely be a road the Patriots want to avoid.

Once Again the Patriot face-off Wednesday night at 7pm in the Patriot Center. You can tune into WGMU Radio for live coverage of the game.

Two Overtimes, Two Different Results for George Mason

For the first time since the 1994-95 season, the George Mason Patriots participated in back to back overtime games. Mason split the two contests, first losing to Towson on Thursday 70-68, then beating Georgia State by the same score on Sunday: 70-68. The victory brought Mason to 7-8 in the CAA and 13-13 overall with three very tough games ahead: at Deleware, at VCU, and finally at home hosting JMU.

Thursday's game found Mason on the wrong end of a hot Tigers team, with Towson looking for their fourth straight victory. The Patriots started off slow, with two turnovers and a missed layup, before finding their groove with a Rahneeka Saunders jumper. Mason struggled with their turnovers throughout the game, finishing with 18. Christine Weithman gave the Patriots their first lead, 19-16, of the ball game with a three-ball with 8:54 left in the first half. Weithman finished with 9 points, hitting 3 of 3 from downtown. 


Mason went on a 6-0 run to end the first half to give themselves a 34-30 lead at the break. Towson shot 36% from the floor in the first half (12-33), while Mason shot 47% (11-23). The Patriots kept things rolling in the second half, pushing their lead to 42-32 with an Amber Easter jumper. Suddenly something clicked in the Tigers, as they went on a 19-6 run over the next seven minutes to take back the lead 51-48 with 5:36 left in regulation. Towson was paced by the play of Krystal Parnell who finished with 18 points and 6 assists. Also vital for the Tigers offense was guard Tanisha McTiller, who had 16 points and 4 rebounds. 

The teams finished 59-59 to end regulation, and traded baskets throughout the first few minutes of the overtime period. Trailing by two, Evelyn Lewis hit a turn-around lay-up to knot the score up at 68 with 1:31 left.Mason's poor handling of the basketball ending up looming large, as a Mason turnover with 13 seconds left gave Towson the ball and the final possession. Sheree Ledbetter put back a missed Parnall jumper with two seconds left to give the Tigers their 70-68 victory. Evelyn Lewis and and Taleia Moton had 15 points apiece to lead the Patriots. Amber Easter added 9 points and 6 rebounds.

George Mason found themselves in a very similar game on Sunday against Georgia State at home. Another signature slow start for the Patriots was ended by a 10-0 run to give Mason the 16-6 advantage with 6:22 left in the first half. Taleia Moton and company pushed the lead up to 28-18 at the end of one half to play. Moton finished with a game-high 31 points. Georgia State's leading scorer was Cody Paulk, who had 18 points and 7 rebounds. 

The Panthers took advantage of Mason turnovers to start the second half, cutting the score to 30-28 with with 18:13 left in regulation. Georgia State slowly worked up a lead, overtaking the Patriots 47-42 with 8:47 after two buckets from Paulk. Two free-throws from Moton tied things at 57-57 at the end of regulation. Taleia proved yet again her dominance, hitting the clutch free throws to give Mason the win with .1 seconds left. This was the 6th game this season in which Moton scored 30+ points. 

Mason heads to Deleware on Thursday for a 7 pm tipoff. 

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.

Dragon Slayers! Mason Takes Down Drexel 56-51 in Philly

In a game that on most nights the Patriots (11-10, 5-5) would have lost, they hung together and pulled off a key road win at Drexel (10-10, 6-4). This win was key because it not only helped them climb up another wrung on the CAA standings ladder, but it also broke a streak of 7 straight losses on the road.

In many ways you could say that Mason played one of their most complete games of the season, even though they only shot 33% from the field on the night. Mason started the game by going down 6-0 in the first 4 minutes of the game. Eventually Mason would go down by 14 points, Drexel's largest lead of the game, with just 3:25 left in the 1st half. The Patriots were able to fight back and bring the lead down to just 8 points at halftime, even with only shooting 28% from the field.

The second half wasnt much better shooting percentage wise for Mason, as they only shot 39%, but they were able to score in bunches and finally take their first lead of the game with 7 minutues left. Mason made their run at the 16 minute mark while trailing 9 points, 30-39, as Taleia Moton scored 6 straight points to help put together a 10-0 run that brought them to within 1 point of Drexel. From this point on, the lead would shift back and forth twice, and then finally Mason would take the lead at the 7:58 mark and never look back. The Patriots were ultimately able to achieve and pull out the 56-51 victory on the road by holding the Drexel Dragons to shooting  just 1 of 13(7%) from the three point line, and only 32% from the field in the second half.

Kamile Nacickaite had 14 pts

This was a game of two halves, and a Mason team that made defensive adjustments at halftime in order to win the ballgame. Drexel was hot in the first half from the 3pt line, going 5 for 11 (45%), with Kamile Nacickaite knocking down 3 treys and Hollie Mershon hitting 2 from beyond the arc. But in the second half Mason adjusted their defensive scheme that lead to Drexel only hitting 1 out of 13 attempts from 3 point land,  and to the Dragons only shooting 25% from the field in the second half.

Mason as a team did not shoot well as team in the game, with only Taleia Moton being the only player to shoot  over 38% with at least 3 Fg attempts. But the difference in the game was that along with Moton's 28 points, 3 players off the bench were able to contribute points and rebounds. Talisha Watts, Joyous Tharrington, and Christine Weithman each recorded at least 2 points on a efficient 3 for 5 from the field combined. What was even bigger was the effect the bench had on rebounding, the the biggest impact coming from  Jouyous Tharrington who recorded 5 boards in just 13 minutes of court time. Together the bench accounted for 10 of the total 37 rebounds that Mason hauled in, and this is something Mason fans have been hoping to see from those role players.

Anyone who has watched Mason, whether on the road or at home, had to be shocked when they saw that the Patriots went 20 of 23 (87%) from the free throw line. We have stressed on this blog numerous times that Mason has lost many close games because of their sub-par free throw shooting, but they proved me wrong against Drexel. In Mason's last game against ODU, a loss by 3, the Patriots shot just 9 of 17 from the line in a heart breaker. In that game Taleia Moton and Amber Easter combined for only 6 of 13 from the line, while against Drexel those two players alone went 14 of 16 from the line. This shows: 1) The play-makers for Mason are starting to realize they need to step-up in the crunch time of the season, and 2) driving aggressive to the hoop leads to more free point at the line which allows a team to dig themselves out of large deficits and win close games. We have been preaching these two things all season, and it helped them win a big game.

With the win Mason now finds themselves in 5th place, and only 1 game out of the cluster of three teams tied for fourth place in the CAA standings. Mason will travel to Harrisonburg to battle against 3rd place James Madison (16-5, 7-3) and try to pick up a huge conference win on the last game of the current 3 game road tri[. Tip is set for 2 pm on Sunday.