Pure Domination: Patriots Start Road Swing with Loss

Coach Jeri Porter has always preached the full 40 to her team. This means playing a full game of basketball with intensity and hustle until the final whistle. In tonight’s game against Ohio that game plan fell to the wayside, as Mason lasted only four minutes. After establishing an early 8-0 lead over the Bobcats, the Patriots quit. Mason (7-4, 0-1) watched Ohio (7-7,0-0) take complete control as they dominated play in route to a 75- 59 win on their home court.

Ohio never looked back as they embarked on a 19-4 run, to flip the script and give their team a seven point lead after trailing earlier in the game. They weren’t finished, as they went on another run this time 11-4 to force a Mason timeout. The Bobcats would close out the half with a 40-23 advantage, all due in part to their strong shooting, posting a 50 % first half average.

The second half was much of the same as Ohio stepped on the gas building their biggest lead of the game at 23 points on a Mariah Byard 3-pointer. The Bobcats used the 3-point shot all day to keep the Patriots off balance, connecting on five 3-pointers and shooting over 40% from the arc.

Mason never got closer than 13 points as they were put away for good. In the game the Bobcats connected on 28 field goals, a season high. Their 52.8 % field goal percentage is the best of the year as they were averaging just 36 % on the season. Junior Ashley Fowler poured in a season high 13 points, going 4-4 from the free throw line.

Ohio played an all around basketball game, as even the defense was dominate securing eight steals and three blocks. There wasn’t much for George Mason to take form this game, as they were beaten in every statistical category but rebounding.

On an individual note George Mason guard Taleia Moton remained hot, as she put up 25 points to go along with three rebounds. She remains in the top 15 in the nation in scoring. Her counterpart guard Raneeka Saunders continued to dominate the glass, pulling down seven rebounds. The 5 ft 6 guard leads Mason in rebounding at 6.8 per game.

The Patriots will be back in action on Monday, as they welcome in the New Year with a game against Norfolk State. They will look to get their first win of this three game road swing, tipoff is at 6pm.

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.

What We Learned: Regular Season Opener Versus American

Match-up: GMU vs American

Final: 51-55 L

Top GMU Performer: Amber Easter 20 pts(8-17), 12 Rebounds, 2 assists

This weekend the Mason Patriots Women's basketball team opened up it's regular season with two games in two days at home in the friendly confines of the Patriot Center. The first game, coincidently on 11-11-11, fell against the eagles of American University. It's important to note that American was a team who won 20 games last season, and this year returned 4 starters from that successful squad. On the other hand, the Patriots lost 4 starters from a squad that won 13 games last season. It would be a challenge for Coach Jeri Porter to replace that 20 ppg lost from graduation going into this season.

What We Learned: From the get go Mason put itself in a hole with a lack of perimeter defense, and American went up 6-0 in the first 2 minutes. They would never for the rest of the game take a lead in the contest. They would only tie the ball game with just 49 seconds left in the contest, but would never again take the lead after 12:49. Mason's first half shooting was simple atrocious, and they seemed out of sync individuals trying to create for themselves instead of going into their offensive scheme.

Mason was 8-34 on field goals in the first half, for a lowly 23.5%. This improved in the second half by going 13-36, but not by much at 36%. The most amazing stat of the night would be the free throw situation for the Patriots, 2-7 for 28.6%. It's not just about the few they missed, which would’ve in hind sight given them the W, but it was the team’s inability to force fouls by driving the ball. Compare Mason's 7 total free throws to American's 29, and in a close game the most likely or not the team at the foul stripe the most is going to win.

Mason was unable to use its visible size advantage by players like Evelyn Lewis, who was unable all night to finish around the hoop going 1-9 on field goal attempts. The lack of low point presence, against a team in American who was playing a 4 guard set, is what lead to the teams downfall. American was more organized on the offensive front, taking time to go in their sets and take good shots. American also was able to get points off a a deep bench, who contributed 12 compared to Mason's 2. Overall with Mason not getting the calls down low, the game was put on the two stars of the team in Amber Easter and Taleia Moton. And when the stars got off to a very slow start with the two going a combined 16-38, and the rest of the starters going 4-26 from the field for the game, Mason seemed doomed for a loss.