Women's basketball stays hot, defeats ODU 85-69

The George Mason women Patriots (6-1, 1-0) won their first conference game of the season, defeating rival Old Dominion (1-8, 0-1) by a convincing 85-69 performance at the Patriot Center Sunday afternoon.  The Patriots once again reached the 80-point benchmark for the third time this season. The last time this occurred was in 2003, in which they made the WNIT Tournament.

Early into the game Mason had established a low-post presence in the duo of Evelyn Lewis and Janaa Pickard. An up-and-under spin move by Lewis gave Mason an 11-8 lead before the first team timeout.  Pickard had her best game of the season with 16 points to go along with three blocks, a performance that instills some confidence.

“It’s about having confidence in your players, coming here each night knowing you have the ability to win,” Pickard said.

Deep into the second half it was ODU who looked to cut into the Patriots’ lead. A four-point turnaround by the Monarchs put the score at 19-14, the closest it would be all night. Quick back-to-back three-pointers by Pickard and Saunders helped fend off any ODU comeback. Saunders would finish the game with 17 points, as Mason finished the half up 40-30.

The Monarchs, 0-6 when trailing after the first half, looked to make a push to change the game and their season. Senior center Tia Lewis was all but non-existent in the first half, but she would get her dues by the end of regulation finishing with 20 points to pace ODU. 

“When we see these teams with good post players, we have to make them work. We did that tonight,” Mason head coach Jeri Porter said.

While Mason had survived much of the game distributing the ball, the time came when standout guard Taleia Moton took over. After a running layup to get the scoring going, Moton scored 13 straight points in the span of 8 minutes to extend the Patriots’ lead. She would finish with 33 points, a new career high. History was made as Moton is now the only other player in GMU women’s basketball history to have three 30-plus performances in a season; the last time was by Cindy Lundberg in the Patriots inaugural season in 1975.

Mason pushed their largest lead with 8 minutes left to 19 points, as they would cruise in from then, with all their shots coming from the foul line.  Mason ended the game shooting 80 percent from the line, scoring 29 of their 85 points on free shots.

“I told our kids tonight right before we reached one foul before the bonus, let’s shoot some free throws tonight,” Porter said.

This marks only the second time in 50 matchups between the Patriots and the Monarchs that Mason has won, putting the all time record at 48-2. George Mason also extends its win streak to six straight games, good for second in the CAA.

They will head to Baltimore this Thursday to take on UMBC in non-conference play. Tipoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.