Women Patriots' comeback thwarted by Towson, fall 59-53

The George Mason Women’s Basketball team (12-14, 6-9) fell to Towson (9-17, 3-12) 59-53 Sunday afternoon at the Patriot Center. Towson has now won seven straight against the Patriots dating back to the 2006-07 season.

Both teams struggled to open the game, as only 15 combined points were scored nearly halfway through the first half.

The Patriots’ sophomore guard Amber Easter led all scorers with 20 points, also collecting three rebounds and dishing out four assists. Senior Brittany Poindexter and junior Taleia Moton also scored in double figures for Mason with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The Tigers were led by their scoring leader, Krystal Parnell, who had a double-double, registering 19 points and 10 assists. Jaleesa Dryver also had a strong game for the Tigers, contributing 11 points.

Towson led a majority of the game, as there was only one lead change and one tie the entire game. The Patriots had a 13-6 run to open the second half, cutting an eight-point deficit to just one. However, the Tigers were resilient and never yielded the lead as both teams kept numerous possessions alive with 31 combined offensive rebounds.

The key to the game was the free throw line. Towson drew a remarkable 31 free throw attempts, while Mason was only able to draw 12. Each team also had problems taking care of the ball as Mason had 16 turnovers and Towson had 15 turnovers.

The Patriots strung together a couple well executed fast break points towards the end of the game, but Towson was able to make enough free throws to hold off any attempt at a late comeback.

Mason’s biggest play came in the second half off of a timeout. On an in-bound from underneath their own basket, senior guard Ashleigh Braxton caught the Towson defense asleep and broke away for a long outlet pass and easy lay-up.

The team will travel to Hofstra for a Thursday matinee. Tip-off is slated for 2 p.m. Towson meanwhile will open the first of two straight home games on Thursday against UNC Wilmington. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.