Feb. 24, 2004

"Clash of the No. 2 Seeds"
George Mason (15-7, 10-5 CAA) at
Hofstra (13-11, 10-5)
Feb. 26, 2004; 7 p.m.
Hofstra Arena
Hempstead, NY

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Stealing Away Senior forward Vernessa Neamo passed current assistant Marcell Harrison to become George Mason's all-time career steal leader with her third steal of the game at Towson on Feb. 22. Neamo now has 240 career steals to her name.

Century Mark Reached Head coach Debbie Taneyhill notched her 100th career win with a 64-52 defeat over Towson on Feb. 22 on the Tigers home court and currently owns a 100-85 (.541) overall career record in her seventh year. Earlier this season, Taneyhill moved up to second all-time in Mason history in career wins with a 68-59 overtime win in the championship game of the Hawk Classic against St. Joseph's (Dec. 29).

Clash of the Twos Heading into tonight's contest, both George Mason and Hofstra are tied for second place in the Colonial Athletic Association. The two teams have an identical conference record of 10-5 and the Pride owns an 8-1 home record, while the Patriots are 6-5 on the road. If these two teams finish the regular season tied, seeding for the conference tournament will be determined by head-to-head competition (Mason won the first meeting). If the two teams split, the tie will be broken by comparing each tied team's record against the team occupying the highest position in the standings and continue down through the standing until one team gains the advantage, thereby winning the higher position.

Last Time on the Court Senior guard Vernessa Neamo poured in a game-high 22 points and amassed five steals to help George Mason's women's basketball team to its fourth-straight win with a 64-52 defeat over Towson University on Feb. 22 at the Towson Center. With the second steal of the afternoon, Neamo became Mason's all-time career steal leader and this win also marks head coach Debbie Taneyhill's 100th career win.

Junior guard Lauren Hediger came off the bench to score a game second-best 15 points after shooting 50 percent from long range and was perfect from the line (6-of-6). This marks Hediger's third-straight game in double figures. Junior guard Laura Kooij netted 12 points, while Neamo grabbed a game-high eight boards.

Mason shot 81 percent from the charity stripe (21-of-26) and 38 percent from the field (19-of-50), while Towson was 17-of-36 on the afternoon and 14-of-19 from the line. The Patriots won the battle of the boards, 30-25, and also forced 22 Tiger turnovers to Mason's 16. First Time Around

Mason's women's basketball team lit the 3-point line on fire as the Patriots drained a new school record of 15 made treys in a single game in a 92-64 defeat over Hofstra on Feb. 1 at the Patriot Center.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Patriots to help lead Mason to its largest margin of victory thus far this season. Kooij was unconscious from beyond the arc as she made a career-high seven threes and shot 10-of-15 from the field for a season-high 29 points for the Patriots. The 10 field goals was one shy of matching Kooij's career-best of 11. Neamo mirrored her career-highs in steals and assists with seven and six, respectively, and also added two blocks in 29 minutes of play for Mason. Guard Jen Derevjanik shot 50 percent on the night for 13 points and added a team second-best five assists, while senior forward Susan Otim netted 12 and freshman Kristin Higy poured in 11 points for the Patriots.

Cigi McCollin came off the bench for Hofstra to lead the Pride with 14 points and Amaka Agugua added to Hofstra's bench points with a team second-best 12 points. Vanessa Gidden grabbed a team-high six boards for the Pride and shot 5-of-9 from the charity stripe for seven points in 17 minutes of play.

Mason shot 29-of-64 from the field (45 percent) and garnered 91 percent shooting from the charity stripe (19-of-21), along with 15-of-33 from long range. Hofstra shot 42 percent on the night and went 10-of-18 from the free throw line and registered 44 percent shooting from beyond the arc (8-of-18). The Pride won the battle of the boards, 37-34, but Mason had only 14 turnovers to Hofstra's 26 and the Patriots amassed 18 steals to the Pride's six.

Series Record Mason holds a 5-1 advantage in the overall series against Hofstra. The only loss for the Patriots against the Pride came last year in Hempstead, NY, where Hofstra claimed a 69-56 victory on Feb. 2. Mason is 3-0 when playing in Fairfax against the Pride, including a 73-61 win in last year's final regular season home game for the Patriots (Mar. 6). These two teams had met once prior to Hofstra joining the CAA (2001-02). On Jan. 21, 1991, current Mason head coach Debbie Taneyhill was in the starting line-up and she netted six points for the Patriots in the 65-35 win.

Making Their Mark The Patriots have netted 162 treys thus far this season, which is currently fifth best in the CAA record books for made threes in a single season. Richmond holds the first two spots (2000 & 1999) with 232 and 195, respectively, while William & Mary's 2002 squad sits in third (167) and Old Dominion (1997) is fourth (163).

Player of the Week Neamo was named Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week on Feb. 23 for her efforts against James Madison and Towson this past weekend. In the two games, 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.

Third Time's A Charm For the third time this season on Feb. 20 (JMU), five players scored in double figures for the Patriots. The first was in a 68-54 win over Drexel in Fairfax and the second was when all starters scored in double digits against Hofstra in Fairfax on Feb. 1 by a score of 92-64.

On the Hunt Mason is looking to match its longest winning streak of the season of five against the Pride on Thursday evening. Mason has won four-straight, which is the Patriots longest CAA win streak of the year. The five consecutive wins for the Patriots longest winning streak of the 2003-04 campaign included wins over Charlotte (Dec. 28), St. Joseph's (Dec. 29), Towson (Jan. 4), Drexel (Jan. 9) and VCU (Jan. 11).

Four Times Over George Mason has had three different players receive CAA Player of the Week honors for a total of four times to match Old Dominion with the most honors for any conference team thus far this season.

Twenty Something In Mason's last five CAA wins (all in February), the Patriots have defeated their opponent by an average of 20.6 points. In January, Mason won its five conference games by an average of 12.0 points.

At the Line The Patriots connected on 21-of-26 at the charity stripe to shoot a season third-best 81 percent against Towson on Feb. 22. Mason's highest percentage at the free throw line this season came at 91 percent (19-of-21) against Hofstra on Feb. 1.

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.

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 162 total treys as a team. The previous record was set back in 1995-96 when Mason netted 145 from beyond the arc.

Nationally Recognized As of Feb. 23, George Mason is ranked 11th nationally in 3-point FGs made per game after totaling 162 through 22 games for an average of 7.4. Southwest Missouri State is first with an average of 9.0.

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.

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 79-45 (.637) when competing at the PC.