Women's hoops season comes to an end with loss to JMU

Taleia Moton had another solid outing with 22 points and broke the 1,000-point mark for her Mason career, however it came in a season-ending loss to JMU in the CAA Tournament.

Plagued by turnovers all night, George Mason lost in the quarterfinals to second-seeded James Madison, 64-54, at the CAA Championships in Upper Marlboro, Md on Friday.  Amber Easter, who finished with 11 points in the game, committed a team high seven turnovers.

“We didn’t do everything right.  We turned the ball over and missed a lot of shots,” Mason head coach Jeri Porter said.

With less than six minutes to play in the second half, JMU went on a 10-0 run to put the game away for good. Senior guard Taleia Moton would try to spark a Mason run, a valiant effort, but too late.

“They made plays and we didn’t. There isn’t really a one thing that gave them the advantage in the last few minutes of the game,” Porter said.

Moton would finish the game with 22 points, making her the fastest player in George Mason women’s basketball history to reach the 1,000 point mark.  A historic night for the guard lost in a moment of disappointment. 

After trailing for the first 15 minutes of play, Mason took the lead as Moton split the defenders for a layup.  Madison would counter to tie the score at 22 on a Crystal Ross jumper. The Patriots would end the half from the line connecting on multiple foul shots to lead by four, as the last five minutes of the half was a battle full of ties and lead changes.

This was the first time since 2009 that Mason held a halftime lead over the Dukes. According to Porter it’s the little things that are worth building on.

“We took a step forward this year.  Hopefully it will create a foundation for next season,” Porter said.

JMU opened the second half on a 16-5 run, using stout zone defense to pressure Mason into sloppy play.  The Patriots, who had 12 points in the paint during the first half, were forced to shoot jumpers because of the defensive change.

“They came out in a zone.  We stopped penetrating like we were in the first half.  It changed our game,” assistant coach Jana Ashley said.

A Moton three-pointer would cut the lead to four with just under seven minutes to play.   The Dukes would continue their defensive onslaught, when a Tarik Hislop steal led to an offensive break out. Hislop would finish the game with six steals to pace the Madison defensive front.

“I had hoped we could win the basketball game, I said to Tarik its starts with you,” JMU head coach Kenny Brooks said.

It started and ended with Hislop, who hit four straight shots from the line to send Mason packing. Despite the loss, this season was a big step in the right direction for the Patriots, as they had their most successful year under Coach Porter.