Jan. 4, 2004

Box Score

Fairfax, VA--Three Patriots scored in double figures to help lead George Mason University's women's basketball team (6-2, 1-0 CAA) to a 65-51 win over Towson (8-2, 0-1) Sunday afternoon at the Patriot Center in the Colonial Athletic Association opener for both teams.

Senior guard Jen Derevjanik (Staten Island, NY) drained a game-high 18 points for Mason after shooting 5-of-11 from the field and 78 percent (7-of-9) from the charity stripe. Derevjanik also added four assists, along with one block and one steal in 33 minutes of play. Junior guard Laura Kooij (Den Helder, Holland) went 3-of-7 from the 3-point line and added six rebounds, along with two steals and two assists for the Patriots. Junior guard Lauren Hediger (Pittsburgh, PA) came off the bench to match her career-high of 11 points after banking 3-of-4 from beyond the arc, while guard Lynette Clark (Sr.; Mitchellville, MD) collected a season-high nine points after shooting 75 percent from the field (3-of-4).

Sophomore guard Kacy O'Brien registered a team-high 18 points for the Tigers and added five rebounds, along with one assist and one steal before fouling out at the :41 mark. Freshman forward Kelly Robinson shot 6-of-14 from the field to amass 15 points before fouling out (1:48), while junior guard Kelli Talbot grabbed a team-best seven boards for Towson.

Towson opened up the contest with a 4-0 lead after O'Brien made a 2-pointer at 18:14, but Mason's Kooij answered with a trey and Derevjanik made a lay-up to put the Patriots up by one (17:14). The lead fluctuated throughout the first half with Mason's biggest lead of three at 5:44 after a 2-pointer by senior forward Vernessa Neamo (Forestville, MD) and Towson's was five points after a made O'Brien free throw (1:26). The Tigers went into the break ahead of the Patriots, 29-26.

The Tigers went on a 6-0 scoring run to open the second stanza, which was halted by a 3-pointer from Clark at 13:47. Towson was ahead by one at 9:32, which was its last lead of the night, and Derevjanik then made a layup to put the Patriots up by one (9:16). Mason then went on a 9-0 scoring run which was started by a trey from Hediger and ended on a made free throw by Neamo to put the score at 53-41 at the 4:36 mark. The Patriots ended the game with its largest lead of the night (14) after Derevjanik sank a free throw with less than a minute to go in the game.

As a team, George Mason shot 40 percent on the night (19-of-48), while Towson went 18-of-53 from the field (34 percent). The Patriots grabbed 36 boards to the Tigers 34, while both teams registered 17 turnovers each. Mason earned seven fastbreak points to Towson's zero and the Patriots scored 22 points off the bench, while the Tigers had three. Towson garnered 20 points off turnovers to Mason's 12.

The Patriots will return to action on Jan. 9 when they face-off against Drexel at the Patriot Center with tip-off at 7 p.m.