March 3, 2004

George Mason (16-8, 11-6 CAA)
at Delaware (17-9, 9-8)
March 4, 2004; 7 p.m.
Bob Carpenter Center
Newark, DE

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Last Time on the Court George Mason fell to Old Dominion by a score of 81-64 on Feb. 29 in women's basketball action on senior day at the Patriot Center.

Prior to tip-off, seniors Jen Derevjanik, forward Vernessa Neamo, forward Susan Otim, center Osato Edobor-Osula, guard Lynnette Clark and Lesley Harvey were honored for their four years of hard work and dedication to the Patriot women's basketball team.

Neamo registered her sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 26 points and a team-best 10 rebounds, while Derevjanik poured in a team second-best 19 points and added a game-high five steals in her last game in a Mason uniform at the PC. Junior guard Laura Kooij (Den Helder, Holland) added 10 points for the Patriots in 32 minutes of play.

Mason shot 23-of-63 from the field (37 percent), while ODU was 29-of-54 on the night (54 percent). ODU outrebounded the Patriots, 43-31, but Mason registered 12 steals to the Lady Monarch's nine. ODU scored 23 points off turnovers to Mason's 12 and fastbreak points were even at 12 a piece.

First Time Around Kooij sank a then career-high six 3-pointers to help lead George Mason University's women's basketball team to a 71-64 victory over Delaware 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.

Series Record Mason is 9-4 all-time against the Blue Hens of Delaware, including a 5-2 mark at home. When facing off in Newark, the series is even at two and the Patriots hold a 2-0 advantage when playing on a neutral court. Last season, the two teams split the series as the Blue Hens won on their home turf on Jan. 19 by a score of 73-61 and Mason defeated Delaware 47-36 (Feb. 20) at the Patriot Center.

Sealing Their Own Fate With a win against Delaware tonight, the Patriots will have locked up the No. 2 seed for the conference tournament. If Mason is defeated by the Blue Hens, Hofstra must lost to UNC Wilmington on Friday for the Patriots to clinch the No. 2 slot.

Making Their Mark The Patriots have netted 174 treys thus far this season, which is currently third 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 fourth (167) and Old Dominion (1997) is fifth (163).

Solid Starter Derevjanik has started 111 consecutive games for Mason and is just two away from tying Keri Chaconas who holds the school record in consecutive starts with 113 (1992-96).

That's A Wrap Since becoming a member of the CAA (1985-86), Mason is 10-8 overall in final regular season games and the Patriots hold a 2-4 mark when playing the last game of the regular season on the road.

On this Day... George Mason has closed out its regular season against Delaware on March 4 before and won by a score of 65-57 in 1992 on the Blue Hens home court when Delaware was not a member of the CAA.

Doubling Up Senior forward Vernessa Neamo registered her sixth double-double of the season against ODU (Feb. 29) with a game-high 26 points and a team-best 10 rebounds.

Beyond the Arc Junior guard Laura Kooij has netted 68 threes this year and is just six away from setting a new standard in Mason's record books in made treys in a single season. Keri Chaconas currently holds the record with 72, which was set during the 1993-94 campaign.

Third Largest Against Old Dominion on Feb. 29 at the Patriot Center, Mason played in front of the third largest crowd of the season at 2,228 and the second biggest on the Patriots home court this year. At Old Dominion on Jan. 25, Mason competed in front of a season-high 5,022 fans.

Three-Pointers a-Plenty Four of Mason's six seniors sit in the top-15 in the Patriots record books in career made 3-pointers. In four years, Derevjanik has netted 122 to sit in sixth place, Otim has 54 (11th), Neamo 31 (13th) and Clark has 26 (15th).

All But One Jen Derevjanik has been second in the conference in scoring the entire season except for one week when she was in first.

Four Times Over George Mason has had three different players receive CAA Player of the Week honors for a total of four times. Laura Kooij (Dec. 29), Jen Derevjanik (Jan. 5 & Jan. 12) and Vernessa Neamo (Feb. 23) are all the Patriots who have received the honor thus far this season.

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 174 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 13th nationally in 3-point FGs made per game after totaling 174 through 24 games for an average of 7.3. 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 seventh 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), along with Murray State against Eastern Illinois (Feb. 28) for all three to sit tied for first.

Where the Heart Is George Mason is 8-3 overall this season at the Patriot Center and 7-2 in conference play. The Patriots had won five-straight at home heading into the ODU match-up, which was one of the CAA losses at the PC and the other came against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 18 (65-57)

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 79-46 (.632) 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).