Women's Basketball | 12/9/2017 3:38:00 PM

Box Score FAIRFAX, Va. – As the snow fell outside, the George Mason women's basketball team struggled to get traction inside EagleBank Arena.

Luckily, the Patriots bounced back with a flurry in the second half.

Mason turned up the intensity after halftime to roll past Eastern Kentucky for a 64-41 victory on Saturday afternoon. The Patriots (9-2) have won three straight and are off to their best start since the 1992-93 season. The nine non-conference wins are also their most in 17 years.

Mason also stayed perfect at home this season, improving to 7-0. Dating back to last season's final home game, the Patriots have won eight straight at EagleBank Arena for their longest home winning streak since winning nine in a row during the 1992-93 and 1993-94 seasons.

Freshman guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary led all scorers with 18 points and knocked down four 3-pointers. The Atlantic 10's leading scorer, graduate student Natalie Butler, scored 12 of her 13 points in the second half and grabbed 12 rebounds for her 10th straight double-double, which leads the country. Sophomore Jacy Bolton also added 11 points.

The Patriots came out on fire, making their first six shots to take a 10-0 lead less than four minutes in. But they cooled off from there, only connecting on four of their final 21 shots of the half. They also committed 15 turnovers in the first half, which Eastern Kentucky (2-6) turned into 15 points. Mason scored just five points in the second quarter, falling behind 25-23 at halftime.

Right out of the gate in the third period, though, the Patriots grabbed the momentum. Bolton scored a layup on a backdoor pass from senior Tayler Dodson on the first possession. Bolton then followed with a 3-pointer on the next possession as Mason made its first four shots of the half to stake a seven-point lead.

The Colonels cut the gap to two points, 32-30, with 7:25 remaining. But that was as close as they would get. The Patriots went on a 13-2 run, which featured seven points from Cardaño-Hillary. The point guard scored five straight points to cap off the spurt for a 45-32 lead with 1:22 left in the period.

Mason didn't let the lead dwindle below seven after that. The Patriots held EKU to five points and just two field goals in the final quarter and forced 12 turnovers after halftime. The Colonels had two periods with less than 10 points.

For the third time this season, the Patriots held an opponent to less than 50 points. EKU shot just 28.1 percent (18-of-61) from the field. Conversely, Mason made 49.1 percent (26-of-53) from the field. The Patriots shot 61.5 percent in the second half, shaking off that horrid second quarter (2-of-9).

Mason outrebounded the Colonels 39-34, marking the ninth time (all wins) they've won the rebounding battle this season. The Patriots also dominated in the paint, 36-24.

Cardaño-Hillary scored 13 points after halftime and was 4-of-6 from 3-point range. After scoring just one point in the first half, Butler shot 5-of-7 from the field after the break for 12 points. She notched her 36th career double-double and is now just 11 points away from 1,000 for her career.

Bolton had 11 points, six rebounds and tied a career high with two blocks. Dodson added six points and a game-high five assists.

Mason wraps up a four-game homestand when it welcomes in UMBC at 7 p.m. on Monday.