Dec. 6, 2005
Box Score
Fairfax, Va.--The Patriots had a 10-point advantage over Penn State with seven minutes remaining in the game, but George Mason could not maintain its lead and fell to the Nittany Lions in a non-conference women's basketball match-up by a score of 68-62 Tuesday evening at the Patriot Center. With this loss, Mason falls to 3-4 on the year, while PSU improves to 4-3.
The Nittany Lions started off the contest on a 6-0 run, but Mason jumped into the lead after junior forward Tracy Ann Holness (Brooklyn, N.Y.) sparked a mini-run of her own. Holness made two-straight 3-pointers, the second of which gave Mason a 14-12 lead (9:44), and she then netted a lay-up. The Patriots controlled the rest of the half as Mason did not give up its lead and went into the break leading by a score of 31-26.
The two teams traded baskets at the start of the second half and Mason went ahead by 10 points. The Nittany Lions answered with an 11-0 run to give them a 59-57 lead after junior guard Kamela Gissendanner drained one from beyond the arc. After sophomore forward Moni Akintunde (Laurel, Md.) went 1-of-2 at the line to narrow the Patriots' deficit to just one, Mason could not get any closer as PSU made five straight free throws to secure its 68-62 victory.
Akintunde led all scorers with 19 points, while Holness added a team second-best 16 for the Patriots. Senior guard Jen Daniels (Brigantine, N.J.) tied for a game-high three steals and also dished out a team-best four assists.
Gissendanner led the Nittany Lions with 18 points, while freshman guard Brianne O'Rourke tallied a game-high 10 helpers on the night. Junior forward Amanda Brown registered a double-double with 17 points and a game-best 10 rebounds, while sophomore forward Romana Vynuchalova collected 10 points for PSU.
Mason shot 41 percent on the night, while PSU was 22-of-46 (48 percent) from the field. The Patriots were outrebounded, 38-26, and PSU missed only two free throws on the night (22-of-24), while Mason made 50% of its shots from the line (6-of-12).
The Patriots are back in action when they face Brown on Dec. 10 in Providence, R.I. at 2 p.m.
