Keith's Keys to the Game: GMU vs. VCU

With Mason's victory over William & Mary last Thursday, the Patriots have finally broken their 6 game losing streak and look to continue the winning ways against bitter rival VCU. Mason (8-9) finds themselves at the bottom half of the conference standings, currently tied 8th with Towson and 4 games out of  first place in the CAA. VCU (11-6) on the other hand has won 3 of their last 4 conference games, and find themselves tied for 3rd place, and just two games back of CAA leader and nationally ranked #16 Delaware.

This matchup will most likely be a shootout, as VCU comes in averaging just over 67 points per contest, and two players who average more then 17 points per game. Mason comes in with the high scoring, high energy Taleia Moton who recently dropped 28 points on W&M, and who ranks 12th nationally with 20.5 ppg. In the 6 losses the VCU Rams have suffered this season, only in 1 game did they reach their average in scoring. The key for Mason will be to keep the Rams below 60-67 points on the day, thus hopefully ensuring that the Patriot defense is creating turnover opportunities  in-order for the offense to easily score.


Players to Watch:

Hurt- 23.4 ppg/12.7 rpg

Courtney Hurt: The senior star from VCU puts the "POWER" into the term "power-forward". Courtney Hurt is by far one of the best players in the CAA, as well as the NCAA, and someone that the Mason coaching staff will have to game plan against. Currently she is ranked 5th in the nation in scoring with 23.4 ppg, while also ranking 1st in the nation in rebounding with 12.7 boards per contest. Courtney will absolutely put the "Hurt" on the Mason defense if Evelyn Lewis does not take care to defend smarly and not get into foul trouble, as well as boxing out to fight for rebounds and position. Courtney has lead VCU in rebounding in 15 of 17 games so far this season. VCU will look to score inside with success, and then move outside when their guards start to get open because of double teams down low. It will be important for the Patriots to do their best to limit Courtney in the amount of easy scoring opportunities she gets, as well as executing efficient help defense and shifting.

Barbour- 17.5 ppg/6.3 rpg

Andrea Barbour: The redshirt senior from VCU is a very dynamic guard who uses her height(5'10) to over-power smaller guards and defenders. On the season Barbour is averaging just over 17 points and 6.3 rebound per game, making her 2nd on the team in scoring and rebounding. Mason will be at somewhat of a disadvantage, with primary guards Taleia Moton and Rahneeka Saunders both being 5'6 and 4 inches shorter then Barbour. The Mason defense may have to rely on skilled forward/guard Amber Easter to use her lanky 6'0 frame to disrupt the potent scoring ability of Barbour by creating a size mismatch. Amber Easter is a player who is most closely equal to the athletic ability and size of Barbour. In 3 of the last 4 games for VCU, Barbour has scored 18, 23, and 24 points against CAA competition.

5 rebounds(4 off) against W&M

Rachel McNair: For Mason, the impact player could be the person you least expect it to be. Freshman forward Rachel McNair had a solid contribution in the Patriots victory over W&M, corralling 5 rebounds in just 10 minutes on the court. With her 6'0-6'1 frame and now proven ability to fight for rebounds, McNair could be a major player in attempting to negate the impact that Courtney Hurt will have on the game down low in the paint. McNair not only represents a possible solution to shutting down VCU's star player, but Rachel represents the potential production from the bench that Mason has been looking for all season. If McNair can come off the bench and contribute solid time for hopefully +10 minutes, this will enable the starters to take a breather and regroup without worrying about a let down on the court.


Tip-off is slated for Sunday at 2 pm in the Patriot Center. VCU leads the all-time series 27-26, and the Rams most recently defeated the Patriots last season 64-46 in Richmond. Click Here to listen to the game live!

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.