Feb. 19, 2004

George Mason (13-7, 8-5 CAA)
vs. James Madison (10-14, 5-8)
Friday, Feb. 20, 2004; 7 p.m.
Fairfax, VA
Patriot Center

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Last Time on the Court Sophomore Jen Daniels and junior Lauren Hediger came off the bench to score a combined eight 3-pointers to help lead George Mason University's women's basketball team to a 70-43 win over William & Mary on Feb. 12 at the Patriot Center.

Ten Patriots, out of 12, scored at least one basket and Hediger led the way with a career-high 17 points (5-of-8), including a personal best four treys. Daniels poured in a career-best four 3-pointers and amassed 12 points after shooting 4-of-7 on the afternoon. Junior center Julie Flanders grabbed a team-high seven rebounds, while senior forward Vernessa Neamo dished out a team-best four assists.

Mason shot 22-of-55 from the field, 48 percent from long range and 74 percent from the line, while William & Mary shot 30 percent on the afternoon and 58 percent from the charity stripe. The Tribe was unable to convert any of its 13 attempts from beyond the arc, but the College did outrebound the Patriots, 41-40.

First Time Around James Madison led for almost the entire game en route to a 64-53 win over George Mason on Jan. 15 at the JMU Convocation Center.

Mason senior guard Jen Derevjanik had a game-high 24 points, and senior center Osato Edobor-Osula netted a season-high 11 for the Patriots. JMU broke a 4-4 tie by scoring the game's next six points and never trailed in the contest. The Dukes led by as many as 11 (33-22 at 2:31) and were up 37-29 at halftime.

The Dukes led by nine (43-34 at 15:53) in the second half before George Mason scored six-straight points to close the gap to 43-40 with 12:01 left. JMU, however, scored the game's next six points to push its lead back to nine (49-40 at 9:34).

Derevjanik hit a 3-pointer then a layup to get the Patriots back to within four (49-45 at 7:50). Then a 9-3 JMU run gave the Dukes a 58-48 lead with 3:36 to play, and George Mason got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

Series Record The Dukes hold a 35-17 advantage in the overall series between these two schools. Mason is 6-17 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.

Derevjanik Earns Honor George Mason University women's basketball stand-out senior guard Jen Derevjanik was named to the 2004 Academic All-America Women's Basketball District III University Division First Team as announced on Feb. 19. The voting was done by members of the College Sports Information Director's of America (CoSIDA) in the District III area. Derevjanik currently holds a cumulative GPA of 3.33 and is majoring in psychology.

Scouting the Dukes JMU heads into tonight's match-up on a two-game winning streak. The last victory came against Drexel on Feb. 15 by a score of 60-56 and the Dukes also clinched a 62-61 win over Delaware in Newark on Feb. 12.

Lesley Dickinson leads JMU with 15.9 points per game and she has also amassed a team-high 34 steals. Meredith Alexis has averaged a team-best 9.9 rebounds per game, while Andrea Benvenuto averages a team-best 4.5 assists per game.

Two players have started all 24 games for the Dukes in Dickinson and Alexis, while three others have seen action in every contest (Krystal Brooks, Shirley McCall and Denae Dobbins)

Record Breaking George Mason eclipsed the school record of 3-point field goals made in one season against William & Mary as the Patriots now have 147 total treys as a team. The previous record was set back in 1995-96 when Mason netted 145 from beyond the arc.

Threes Are Good Company Lauren Hediger and Jen Daniels both came off the bench to drain a career-high four threes each against William & Mary on Feb. 12. Hediger shot 4-7 from long range and made a personal best five field goals (5-8) for a career-high 17 points, while Daniels poured in a team second-best 12 points after making 4-of-7 from the field.

Lighting It Up As a team, Mason made 12-of-25 from long range for a season second-best made 3-pointers. The Patriots set the standard on Feb. 1 when they netted 15 threes against Hofstra at the PC.

Nationally Recognized As a team, George Mason is ranked 12th nationally in 3-point FGs made per game after totaling 147 through 20 games for an average of 7.4. Southwest Missouri State is first with an average of 8.8.

Three and Counting Vernessa Neamo is just three steals away from tying current assistant coach Marcell Harrison as Mason's all-time career steal leader. Neamo currently has 234 to her name, while Harrison ended her tenure with 237.

Where the Heart Is George Mason is 7-2 overall this season at the Patriot Center and 6-1 in conference play. The Patriots have won four-straight at home and the lone conference loss for Mason at the PC was to UNC Wilmington on Jan. 18 (65-57).

Moving On Up Jen Derevjanik passed current assistant coach Marcell Harrison in career assists recently and Derevjanik currently has 433 career assists, which is six away from tying for third on Mason's all-time list.

Top in the Nation The 15 made treys by the Patriots against Hofstra on Feb. 1 is not only a new Mason record, it also is tied for sixth in the nation in single game totals for this season. Idaho State set the standard this year with 17 made threes against Lewis & Clark on Nov. 22, 2003 and TCU followed suit versus East Carolina (Feb. 13) to sit tied for first.

From Long Distance The Patriots are second in CAA's record books with made 3-pointers in a single game with 15 against Hofstra (Feb. 1), but are first among current members. Richmond is at the top after draining 17 against American on Jan. 28, 2000.

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 3.07.

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 that time, the Patriots have posted a regular season record of 78-45 (.634) 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).