Jan. 14, 2004

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George Mason (8-2, 3-0 CAA)
at James Madison (5-8, 1-2)
January 15, 2004
7 p.m.
JMU Convocation Center
Harrisonburg, VA

Last Time on the Court George Mason senior Jen Derevjanik scored a career-high 33 points to lead the Patriots (8-2, 3-0 CAA) from a 12-point first-half deficit and defeat Colonial Athletic Association rival Virginia Commonwealth (4-7, 1-2) by a score of 77-62 on Jan. 11 at the ALLTEL Pavilion at the Stuart C. Siegel Center in Richmond, VA.

Derevjanik poured in 22 points after intermission as Mason outscored the Rams 48-24 in the second half to record its fifth- straight victory.

The Patriots 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 came 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.

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.

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.

Against JMU The Dukes hold a 34-17 advantage in the overall series between these two schools. Mason is 6-16 when playing in Harrisonburg and the Patriots are 8-15 when playing on their home turf. When competing on neutral ground, the Dukes have won four to Mason's three. Last season the Patriots opened up CAA play against JMU at home and Mason walked away with an 82-57 victory on Jan. 5, while the Dukes went on to defeat the Patriots in Harrisonburg by a score of 68-58 on Feb. 6. These two teams squared-off once more during the 2002-03 campaign in the conference tournament semifinals and JMU won (70-50) on Mar. 13 in Norfolk, VA. The last time Mason won in Harrisonburg was on Feb. 14, 2002 by a score of 72-64.

Five-Straight The Patriots currently lead the CAA in consecutive games won with five. Mason has not won five-straight contests since the 2000-01 season, when this year's seniors were freshman and they opened up the season with five wins in a row and matched their effort a second time during conference play (Jan. 11-Feb. 1).

Lighting it Up Jen Derevjanik came out of the break against VCU with 11 points and poured in 22 more in the second stanza to register a new career-high of 33 points. The New York native went 11-of-18 from the field and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe for new season highs in FGs and made free throws.

Best CAA Start Mason currently owns a 3-0 CAA record, which is head coach Debbie Taneyhill's best conference beginning and it is the best start of CAA play for the Patriots since 1995-96 when the team began with a 5-0 conference mark.

Under the 60-Point Mark The last time that George Mason held its opponent to under 60 points in four-straight games prior to this year was during the 2000-01 campaign. The Patriots winning streak went from Feb. 11 to Feb. 22, 2001 and they defeated UNCW (65-53), William & Mary (55-41), VCU (59-52), as well as JMU (68-51).

Scouting the Dukes In its last contest, James Madison withstood a second-half Towson rally to post a 72-61 win over the Tigers in Towson, MD, on Jan. 11. Freshman forward Lesley Dickinson scored seven straight points and 15 of JMU's last 20 points in the final six minutes and was 10-for-10 at the foul line in the final 3:32 to finish the game with a career- and team-high 25 points. JMU shot a season-high 52 percent (26-50) and hit 60 percent (15-25) from the field in the first half. Dickinson was named Rookie of the Week for the third time this season on Jan. 12.

Dickinson leads the Dukes in scoring average with 16.4 ppg, while Meredith Alexis is averaging a team-best 9.5 rpg.

Player of the Week, Again Jen Derevjanik received CAA Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week on Jan. 12. Derevjanik averaged 22.0 points in two games and shot an even 50.% (13-of-26) from the field. In addition, the senior converted 17-of-19 (89.5%) free throws attempts, tallied nine assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Not One, But Two George Mason and JMU have two non-conference opponents in common: Tulane and Charlotte. Both teams faced the Green Wave in New Orleans, LA, with the Patriots claiming a 61-60 victory (Nov. 29) and the Dukes dropped a 66-64 decision on Dec. 18. Both teams defeated Charlotte with the Patriots winning on neutral ground by a score of 70-52 at the Hawk Classic (Philadelphia, PA) on Dec. 28 and JMU defeated the 49ers in Harrisonburg on Jan. 6 (71-64).

Mason's Better Half Mason has scored 86 points in the first half to its opponents 92 in its first three CAA games, but have rallied back in the second stanza to net 124 points to their competition's 75.

Three's Company As far back as the records would take us (2000-01), no CAA member school has received player of the week honors three weeks in a row. Mason's Laura Kooij was named on Dec. 29, while Derevjanik received the honor on Jan. 5 and Jan. 12.

Where's Mason? The Patriots moved up 11 spots in the latest RPI (Rating Percentage Index) report released by Collegiate Basketball News on Jan. 12. Mason is 54th and only one other CAA school is ahead of Mason in Old Dominion, which stands at 15th. In addition, the CAA was ranked ninth out of the 32 Division I women's basketball conferences.

Home cookin' Mason's women's basketball team started playing all of its home games at the Patriot Center during the 1994-95 season. Since this time, the Patriots have posted a regular season record of 74-44 (.627) when competing at the PC.

Taneyhill's Second Head coach Debbie Taneyhill became second in Mason's record books in victories on Dec. 29 with a 68-59 win over St. Joseph's in the championship game of the Hawk Classic. Taneyhill has notched 92 wins while at the helm of the Patriots program and passed Pat Layne (1977-84) who now stands at third after ending her tenure with the Mason program with an overall record of 89-85.