May 14, 2003

FAIRFAX, Va. - George Mason, which concluded its season May 3, following a 10-9 victory over then-No. 16 Johns Hopkins, continues to rank nationally in the latest NCAA women's lacrosse statistics released Tuesday. Statistics are based on games played through Sunday, May 11.

The Patriots, who led the Colonial Athletic Association in caused turnovers, moved up one spot in this week's rankings to second overall after finishing the year averaging 14.88. Loyola, an NCAA Final Four participant for the second consecutive season and the No. 1 team in the nation, dropped from the #2 spot to #3 with a 14.39 average. No. 6 Georgetown, who was eliminated from the tournament last week, holds the top spot with 15.82 caused turnovers per outing.

Individually, senior defender Paula Priest (Kingsville, MD/Fallston), who missed three games this season due to a knee injury, continues to rate sixth in the nation with 2.79 caused turnovers per game. She also led the CAA in this category. Freshman defender Katie Linnertz (Syracuse, NY/Cicero North Syracuse), who was second in the CAA in caused turnovers per game at 2.41, remained 11th nationally. Sophomore goalkeeper Meg Dentler (Crofton, MD/Arundel) moved up one position from last week to fourth nationally, holding a 58.3 save percentage. She led the CAA in that category.

Offensively, senior All-American attacker Jill Toomey (Annapolis, MD/Broadneck) holds steady at the seventh position, averaging 4.24 points per game. She is still also rated fifth nationally in goals per outing (3.47). Sophomore attacker Kristy Manas (Harwood, MD/Southern) dropped one slot to #6 overall with 1.82 assists per game.

George Mason concluded its season with a 9-8 overall mark for its first winning season since 1998. The team's nine wins ties the school record set last year (9-9) for victories in a season. Mason also set a school single-season record with 84 assists.