Feb. 23, 2004

Richmond, VA--George Mason University's senior forward Vernessa Neamo (Forestville, MD) earned Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week honors for her efforts against James Madison and Towson this past weekend. This marks the fourth time this season in which a Patriot has received this honor with senior guard Jen Derevjanik (Staten Island, NY) earning it twice and junior Laura Kooij (G; Den Helder, Holland) once.

Neamo put together back-to-back impressive outings as George Mason extended its winning streak to four games with a pair of conference victories to remain in a tie for second place in the CAA. In Mason's win at JMU on Friday, Neamo was two assists shy of a triple-double scoring a game-high 21 points, hauling in a team-best 10 rebounds and dishing a team-best eight assists. Neamo shot 10-of-17 (58.8%) from the field and added two steals and one block. In Sunday's win at Towson, Neamo became Mason's all-time steals leader with her second steal of the game and now has 241 to her name. In addition, the senior netted a game-high 22 points, pulled down eight rebounds and recorded three assists, to go along with five steals. On the week, Neamo averaged 21.5 points, 9.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 3.5 steals in the two games while shooting 56 percent (18-for-32) from the field.

The Patriots will return to action on Feb. 26 when they travel to Hempstead, NY, to compete against Hofstra University at 7 p.m. Both teams are tied for second in the conference and Mason defeated the Pride in the first meeting this season on Feb. 1 by a score of 92-64.