Jan. 11, 2004
Box Score
RICHMOND, Va. ?- George Mason senior Jen Derevjanik scored a career-high
33 points to lead the Patriots from a 12-point first-half deficit and
defeat Colonial Athletic Association rival Virginia Commonwealth 77-62 in
women's basketball Sunday afternoon at the ALLTEL Pavilion at the Stuart C.
Siegel Center.
Derevjanik poured in 22 points after intermission as George Mason
outscored the Rams 48-24 in the second half to record its fifth straight
victory. The Patriots, now 8-2 overall, also improved to 3-0 in CAA play
with the win, while VCU slipped to 4-7 on the season and 1-2 in conference
games. Senior Cyndy Wilks finished with 22
points and five assists for the Rams in the loss.
George Mason trailed VCU 45-37 with 16:46 left to play but sandwiched
three-pointers from Derevjanik and junior Laura Kooij around a layup by
Rams' junior Meagan Evans to cut VCU's
advantage to 47-45. Another trey by Kooij tied the contest at 48-48 at the
13:35 mark, and Derevjanik followed with a jumper to give the Patriots their
first lead of the half.
VCU roared back on consecutive three-pointers by junior Maria
Giovannetti and Wilks to go up 54-50 with
just under 12 minutes left, but George Mason countered with a 13-0 run that
gave the Patriots a 63-54 cushion with 7:36 to go. The Rams failed to get
within six points down thereafter.
Wilks and junior Lauren Hogan keyed a
19-4 first-half spurt that put VCU ahead 27-15 with under seven minutes to
play before the break. The Rams maintained a 12-point lead heading into
intermission, but the Patriots got back to within single-digits with 1.9
seconds left in the half when Derevjanik's basket and subsequent made
free-throw made the score 38-29 at the end of the period. Wilks ended the
first half with 15 points, while Hogan scored 11 of her 14 points in the
first 20 minutes.
Kooij added 13 points and seven rebounds for George Mason, which held
VCU to just 30.8 percent (8-26) shooting in the second stanza and forced 16
Ram turnovers after the break. Patriots' senior Vernessa Neamo also
contributed 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists to GMU's winning
cause.
