Dec. 4, 2005

Box Score

Fairfax, Va.--In its first Colonial Athletic Association game of the 2005-06 campaign, George Mason's women's basketball team (3-3, 0-1 CAA) dropped a 74-63 decision to the University of Delaware (5-1, 1-0) Sunday afternoon at the Patriot Center.

The first half opened up with four ties and after the Patriots were down by one point (11-10) they went on an 11-3 run, which was capped off by a jumper from junior Nikkia Slade (Yorktown, Va.) to push Mason's lead to 21-14 with about nine minutes remaining. Delaware countered with an 13-2 run, which gave them a 28-23 advantage after Delaware junior guard Alena Koshansky netted a 3-pointer (4:07). Mason regained the lead after sophomore guard Casey Quigley (Springfield, Va.) made a trey at 2:05 (31-28), but the Blue Hens would go into the break with a 33-31 lead over the Patriots.

In the second stanza, Mason pulled within five at the 15:20 mark after senior guard Jen Daniels (Brigantine, N.J.) poured one in from beyond the arc off of an assist from sophomore guard Keyhana Wakefield (Albany, N.Y) to put the score at 43-38. That was the closest the Patriots would get to the Blue Hens for the remainder of the game. UD had its largest lead of the contest, 60-45, after a made free throw by junior guard Tyresa Smith at the 7:17 mark.

Slade came off the bench to score a team-high 18 points for the Patriots and tied Daniels with a game-high six rebounds. Wakefield dished out a career-high seven assists, while Quigley came off the bench to score a season-high 10 points for Mason. Sophomore forward Moni Akintunde also added 11 points in 29 minutes of play.

Koshansky was nearly perfect for UD as she shot 6-of-7 from the field, including a perfect showing from 3-point range (6-of-6) and also made six of her eight attempts at the line to collect a career-high 24 points. Smith scored a team second-best 15 points, while junior forward Chrissy Fisher added 12 for the Blue Hens. The Blue Hens shot 82 percent from beyond the arc after missing only two of their attempts (9-of-11).

Mason shot 45 percent (25-56) on the afternoon, while Delaware was 24-of-45 from the field (53 percent). Mason had a slight advantage on the boards, 31-28, and assists were fairly even as Mason dished out 17 and UD tallied 18. The Patriots' first 14 helpers came from the first 14 field goals of the contest.

Mason will return to action when on Dec. 6 when the Patriots play their second-straight home game against Big Ten member school, Penn State, at 7 p.m.