Jan. 23, 2004

George Mason (9-4, 4-2 CAA)
at Old Dominion (10-6, 5-1)
January 25, 2004; 2 p.m.
Ted Constant Convocation Center
Norfolk, VA

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Last Time on the Court Junior Laura Kooij sank a career-high six 3-pointers to help lead George Mason University's women's basketball team to a 71-64 victory over Delaware (11-4, 3-3) in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up at the Patriot Center on Jan. 22.

Kooij netted a team-high 19 points for the Patriots after shooting 6-of-14 from long range, while senior forward Susan Otim poured in a team second-best 12 points and added a career-high five assists. Senior forward Vernessa Neamo grabbed a game-best 12 boards, while senior guard Jen Derevjanik dished out a game-high six assists. Freshman Tracy Holness stepped up for Mason as she amassed a career-high nine points (4-of-6) in 11 minutes of play and sophomore guard Jen Daniels added five assists in the win.

Shooting was fairly even on the night as the Patriots went 27-of-58 from the field (47 percent), while Delaware shot 44 percent (22-of-50). The Patriots won the battle of the boards as they grabbed 40 rebounds to the Blue Hens 25 and Mason allowed only 22 points in the paint, while the Patriots scored 36.

Against Old Dominion Mason and Old Dominion have squared-off 30 times and the Monarchs have won every contest. Twelve of the Patriots losses have been in Fairfax, while 14 have been in Norfolk and the remaining four were played on neutral ground. Last season, ODU squeaked by with a 73-69 win at the Patriot Center (Jan. 12) and the Monarchs won by a score of 70-60 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Feb. 23.

Scouting the Monarchs Old Dominion currently shares first place in the conference with Hofstra after the Pride defeated the Monarchs on Jan. 18 in Hempstead, NY, by a score of 74-72 for ODU's only loss in the conference thus far this season. Towson has been the Monarch's only home CAA opponent heading into Saturday's match-up and ODU claimed a decisive 87-34 victory over the Tigers on Jan. 15.

Monique Coker leads the Monarch's in scoring average and rebounds per game with 14.9 and 8.9, respectively. With these numbers, Coker is fifth in the conference in scoring and sits second among CAA peers in rebounds per game.

Nothing But Net Junior Laura Kooij made four-straight 3-pointers to open up the scoring for the Patriots against Delaware on Jan. 22. Kooij ended up shooting 6-of-14 from long range to register a new career-high of made baskets from beyond the arc.

Opening Tip The Patriots hold a 5-0 record when they win the opening tip and are 4-4 when it goes in their opponents favor.

Familiar Foe Mason and ODU have one similar non-conference opponent in common: Charlotte. The Patriots defeated the 49ers on Dec. 28 in the opening round of the Hawk Classic in Philadelphia, PA, by a score of 70-52. The Monarch's posted their 75-61 win over Charlotte on Nov. 30 at home.

ODU at Home The Monarchs dominate on their home turf as they hold a 115-1 conference record in Norfolk since becoming a member of the CAA. The last conference loss for ODU at home was on Feb. 19, 1992 when they fell to Richmond by a score of 74-70. Since playing in the Ted Constant Convocation Center (2002-03), the Monarchs hold a flawless CAA record of 13-0, which includes tournament play. ODU has won 14 of its last 15 games at home and are 20-4 overall at the Convocation Center.

Home or Away? The Patriots have posted an identical record of 4-2 both home and away thus far this season. Mason also holds a 1-0 record when playing on neutral ground.

Featuring Holness Freshman Tracy Ann Holness set new career-highs in points (9), field goals (4), rebounds (2) and steals (1) against Delaware on Jan. 22.

Leader of the Pack Jen Derevjanik tallied six assists on Thursday (Delaware) and moved up to the No. 1 spot in the CAA with an average of 4.54 assists per game.

Help is on the Way Senior Susan Otim dished out a new career-high of five assists against the Blue Hens on Jan. 22.

Mason's Better Half The Patriots have outscored their opponents by a total of 460-391 in the second stanza thus far this season.

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.

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).

In the Classroom Out of the 15 athletes on George Mason's roster, nine registered over a 3.0 grade point average for the fall semester, which puts them on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll. Out of these nine, five players made the Dean's List in Derevjanik, senior Lesley Harvey, freshman Kristin Higy, Kooij and freshman Ashley York. In addition, Harvey and Higy received the Scholar Athlete Award. The team's average GPA for the 2002 fall semester was 3.03.

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 75-45 (.625) when competing at the PC.

Mason Signs Five Head coach Debbie Taneyhill recently announced that five student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Patriots in the 2004-05 season. The signees include Casey Quigley (G, 5-10, Burke,VA/Lake Braddock), Keyhana Wakefield (5-8, G, Albany, NY/Colonie), Whitney Ward (G/F, 6-0, Columbia, MD/Long Reach), Jessica Smith (F, 6-1, Dartmouth, MA/Dartmouth) and Erika Hussa (C, 6-3, Fairfax, VA/Robinson).