Battle of the Green and Gold: Patriots Lose 60-57 in Close Contest

Christine Weithman supplied the offense for George Mason, raining down 3-pointers. But it was the offensive storm by Norfolk State that proved to be too much as the Patriots lost 60-57 at Echols Hall. The Patriots (7-4, 0-1) have dropped two straight games on their current road trip, while Norfolk State (6-7) snaps a five game skid.

The Patriots are now 2-3 on the road, a place that has plagued Mason since Coach Porter took the helm. With only seven road games to go, the Patriots must win at least two more to better their win total from last year. Mason was 3-11 away from the Patriot Center in 2010-11 season.

With the start of the first half, things were not falling the Patriots way. Already three minutes into the game George Mason had totaled two turnovers and no points. The Patriots have been hurt by turnovers over the last three games, averaging a little over 18 turnovers per contest. In tonights game their was a combined 34 turnovers, 16 by George mason. This is not a statistic that will help guide you atop the CAA standings, let alone win games.

Even with the slow start Norfolk couldn’t take advantage. Seven minutes in Mason had gone on a 10-1 run, but Norfolk quickly answered with an 8-1 run of their own. Late in the first half we were witnessing a nail bitter as Joyous Tharrington was at the line with the score tied at 24. After hitting both, Norfolk State provided some more stress for the nerves as Batavia Owens hit a layup with 36 seconds to play.

After being tied at 26 to end the first half, we saw a different style in the second. George Mason kept control of the ball only committing two turnovers for the half. A strong defensive rebound by Weithman, led the Patriots on a break that concluded with Weithman 3-pointer to put the score at 43-44. The sophomore guard finished the game with a game high 14 points, shooting over 50% from the arc.

With 20 seconds to go in the game, the score 56-55 sophomore Whitney Long stepped to line. After connecting on both shots, Norfolk led the game by three. Weithman continued to provide the offense, as she was fouled with 12 ticks to go. She hit both dropping the deficit to just one. A foul by Mason to stop the clock gave sophomore guard Rae Corbo a chance to put her team back up by three. A perimeter jumper by Pickard fell off, and that would seal the win for the Spartans.

The Patriots will look to salvage the final game of this road trip when they take on CAA rival William Mary. Tip off is slated for 7pm in Williamsburg, VA.

Keith's Keys to the Game: GMU vs. Norfolk State

Mason enters this game coming off a dominating loss by the paws of the Ohio University Bobcats. Their seems to be appearing a pattern on the road thus far, that dates back to last season. Mason is currently 2-2 on the road,  dropping the last two by a combined 28 points. If Mason cannot salvage the remaining two games of the road trip finishing up at William and Mary, then this season's record may be showing signs of last years road woes when the Patriots were 3-11 outside of the Patriot Center.



What to Watch For:

1) Turnovers:  In Mason's last match-up against Ohio University, in which they were defeated by 16 points, the Patriots gave up 15 turnovers while only forcing 10 turnovers from the Bearcats on just 2 total steals. This is a important statistic because Norfolk State comes in as a team that has a high turnover rate, about 19 per game, and it will be important for the Patriots to get on-ball pressure and force the Spartans to make mistakes as they are prone to do. The Norfolk State Spartans come in riding a 5 game losing streak, and the turnover margin is a big reason for their current 5-7 record. Rahneeka Saunders and Evelyn Lewis combined for a total of 9 turnovers in the last game, so it will be Mason's job as well to secure the basketball and on the other end force the Spartans into pressure situations.

#14 Whitney Long-14.8 ppg

2)  Defend the Guards: Senior Whitney Long and sophomore Rae Corbo come into tonight's games as the two leading scorers, at 14 and 12 points per game respectively, and the obvious threats to the Mason defense. Whitney Long will be a player for Mason to defiantly to keep an eye on because of her 5'4 frame, which she uses to her advantage with  great speed on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court. She is hovering around 40% from the field shooting, and shoots a decently high 35% from outside the three point line. It will be important for Taleia Moton to bring her team leading 2.4 steals per game style of hard nose defense, and apply it directly to Whitney Long all night.


3) Game Plan: This is a match-up that on paper should be a win for the Patriots, that is if they perform to their abilities. The Patriots dominated the Spartans in Fairfax last year 72-45, in only the third ever meeting between the schools.  If Mason is able to utilize their size and skill inside with Evelyn Lewis and Janaa Pickard, it should open it up for easy scoring for the guards and especially high volume/efficency shooter Taleia Moton averaging 22 points on 16 attempts per contest. Norfolk State's tallest starting player in 6-1 in  Batavia Owens, but she only averages around 16 minuets a game and just 5 ppg. And when Mason does hopefully score, it will enable them to setup the full court or 3-4 press to try to force turnovers, which is the achilles heel of this Spartans' team. This game will come down to having a solid game plan and making sure the players follow through with it on the court.

Tip-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Joesph Echols Hall in Norfolk. Mason (7-4) will look to improve their road record before league play, while the Norfolk State Spartans(5-7) will look to snap their 5 game losing streak before they begin conference play in the MEAC. You can listen to the game live on the GoMason Digital Network on WGMUradio.com.

Happy New Year and Go Mason!