March 9, 2004

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Twice For No. 2 For just the second time in George Mason history since becoming a member of the Colonial Athletic Association (1985-86), the Patriots head into the conference tournament as the No. 2 seed. The only other time Mason has earned this seeding was in 1994 where the Patriots advanced to the championship game, but fell to Old Dominion by a score of 78-61 on March 11. Current assistant coach Marcell Harrison was a member of the 1993-94 squad and earned all-tournament team honors.

CAA Tournament Record Since 1985-86, George Mason holds an overall conference tournament record of 11-18. In the 19 years, the Patriots have advanced to the semi-finals on nine occasions and played in the championship game twice.

Last Season The Patriots and Dukes squared-off for the third time during the 2002-03 campaign in the conference tournament quarterfinals and JMU won by a score of 70-50 on Mar. 13 in Norfolk, VA.

Series Records The Dukes hold a 35-18 advantage in the overall series between George Mason and JMU. Mason is 6-17 when playing in Harrisonburg and the Patriots are 9-15 when playing on their home turf. When competing on neutral ground, the Dukes have won four to Mason's three.

George Mason holds a 12-0 advantage in the overall record between the Tigers of Towson. The first time these two teams met was on Dec. 9, 1982 and Mason edged Towson, 68-66. Last season, the Patriots collected an 80-63 win on the road (Jan. 26) and defeated the Tigers by a score of 79-54 at the Patriot Center on March 4. This could be the first meeting for these two teams on neutral ground.

First Time Around George Mason split with Drexel during the regular season with a 68-54 win in Fairfax on Jan. 9 and an 80-74 loss in Philadelphia (Feb. 5).

The Patriots swept Towson in their first two meetings this year with a 65-51 win in both teams conference opener on Jan. 4 and a 64-52 defeat of the Tigers in Towson on Feb. 22.

From Long Range Laura Kooij has canned 71 3-pointers thus far this season and is two away from setting a new standard in Mason's record books for treys made in a single season. Keri Chaconas currently holds the record with 72, which was set during the 1993-94 campaign.

Making Their Mark The Patriots have netted 181 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).

How Is Mason? The Patriots hold a 21-17 overall record and an 11-15 mark in postseason play in the month of March since their first year in the CAA (1985-86).

Solid Starter Derevjanik has started 112 consecutive games for Mason and is just one away from tying Keri Chaconas who holds the school record in consecutive starts with 113 (1992-96).

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.

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 received the honor during the 2003-04 campaign.

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 181 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 March 1, 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 closed out the season with an overall record of 8-3 at the Patriot Center and a 7-2 mark in conference play. The Patriots had won five-straight at home heading into the ODU match-up (Feb. 29), 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.

Take Two The Patriots' win over Hofstra on Feb. 26 marked Mason's fifth consecutive win to match its longest winning streak of the season. The five wins in a row earlier in the year for the Patriots included wins over Charlotte (Dec. 28), St. Joseph's (Dec. 29), Towson (Jan. 4), Drexel (Jan. 9) and VCU (Jan. 11).

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.

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 101-87 (.537) overall career record in her seventh year.

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 244 career steals to her name.

Flanders' Numbers Junior Julie Flanders set a new career-high in points with 14 against Virginia Commonwealth on Feb. 12. Flanders also had a personal best seven field goals against the Rams.

Neamo's Best Senior forward Vernessa Neamo tallied a game-best 28 points at Drexel on Feb. 5, which is also a new career-high for the Maryland native. Neamo also made a personal best 12 FGs after shooting 12-of-18 on the night.

90 or More The 92 points Mason scored against Hofstra on Feb. 1 marked just the fourth time in head coach Debbie Taneyhill's career that the Patriots have scored 90 or more points and the second against a conference opponent. The last time this happened was on Nov. 24, 2001 where Mason defeated Tennessee-Chattanooga, 91-84, in Fairfax. In this game, Kooij hit 11-of-18 FGs (four threes) to net a career-high 41 points.

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

Seven-Up Junior Laura Kooij made a career-high seven 3-pointers against Hofstra (Feb. 1), which matches Mason's single-game record set by Keri Chaconas on both Feb. 17, 1995 and Dec. 31, 1995. The seven treys also ties fourth-best in Colonial Athletic Association history.

Under the 60-point Mark The last time that George Mason held its opponent to under 60 points in four-straight games prior to this year was during the 2000-01 campaign. The Patriots winning streak went from Feb. 11 to Feb. 22, 2001 and they defeated UNCW (65-53), William & Mary (55-41), VCU (59-52), as well as JMU (68-51).

Help is on the Way Senior Susan Otim dished out a new career-high of five assists against the Blue Hens on Jan. 22.

Featuring Holness Freshman Tracy Ann Holness set new career-highs in points (9), field goals (4), rebounds (2) and steals (1) against Delaware on Jan. 22.

Five-Straight The Patriots headed into the match-up with James Madison on Jan. 15 with a CAA-leading five game win streak. Prior to, Mason had not won five-straight contests since the 2000-01 season, when this year's seniors were freshman and they opened up the season with five wins in a row and matched their effort a second time during conference play (Jan. 11-Feb. 1).

Lighting it Up Jen Derevjanik came out of the break against VCU on Jan. 11 with 11 points and poured in 22 more in the second stanza to register a new career-high of 33 points. The New York native went 11-of-18 from the field and 10-of-11 from the charity stripe for new season highs in FGs and made free throws.

Best CAA Start Mason started out the conference schedule with a 3-0 mark, which is head coach Debbie Taneyhill's best conference beginning and it was the best start of CAA play since 1995-96 when the team began with a 5-0 conference start.

Player of the Week, Again Jen Derevjanik received CAA Player of the Week honors for the second consecutive week on Jan. 12. Derevjanik averaged 22.0 points in two games and shot an even 50.% (13-of-26) from the field. In addition, the senior converted 17-of-19 (89.5%) free throws attempts, tallied nine assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Highlighting Higy Freshman forward Kristin Higy poured in a career-high 14 points, which was a team second-best, after shooting 6-of-8 from the field against Drexel on Jan. 9. Higy almost doubled her total career points against the Dragons as she had 15 heading into the match-up with Drexel.

Featured in USA Today Derevjanik was the first athlete to be featured in the "Spotlight: A Player Worth Noting" section of the USA Today in the Jan. 7 issue. This is a brand new section in the USA Today which will highlight an outstanding women's basketball player from a mid-major conference every week.

CAA Player of the Week Jen Derevjanik was named CAA Player of the Week on Jan. 5 for her efforts against St. Joe's (Dec. 29) and Towson (Jan. 4). On the week, Derevjanik connected on 14-of-29 (48.3%) field goal attempts, including 5-of-10 from behind the arc, for a total of 44 points (22.0 ppg), to go along with eight rebounds and seven assists.

All-Tourney Team Derevjanik was named Hawk Classic Tournament MVP after shooting 50 percent from the field in the two games, including 4-of-9 from beyond the arc. Derevjanik poured in 43 total points and shot 69 percent from the charity stripe in the tournament. In addition, Neamo was named to the all-tournament team after tallying 29 total points, along with seven steals and nine rebounds in the two games.

Taneyhill's Second Head coach Debbie Taneyhill became second in Mason's record books in victories on Dec. 29 with a 68-59 win over St. Joseph's in the championship game of the Hawk Classic.

CAA Honor Junior Laura Kooij was named CAA Player of the Week on Dec. 29 for her efforts against Fordham (12/22) and Charlotte (12/28). On the week, Kooij averaged 19.0 ppg, averaged 5.0 rpg, handed out six assists and recorded four steals.

Neamo Reaches 1,000 At the 5:03 mark in the first half against Monmouth on Dec. 20, Vernessa Neamo netted a trey to become just the 13th player in George Mason women's basketball history to amass 1,000 career points. Neamo closed the game with a then season-high 23 points.

Need Help? Call Daniels Sophomore guard Jen Daniels dished out a career-high, along with a game-best, nine assists in the 85-63 win at Howard.

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, Lesley Harvey, Kristin Higy, Kooij and 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.

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).