April 8, 2005

Heading into the 2004-05 season, George Mason University's women's basketball head coach Debbie Taneyhill knew that the year would be a challenging one. The Patriots started off with 10 underclassmen as six seniors departed from the previous season, which included the WNBA's Jen Derevjanik and 2004 All-CAA Defensive Team honoree, Vernessa Neamo. Along with the eight returners, six new faces were added to the mix to round out the 2004-05 roster.

The Patriots started off the year with a grueling non-conference schedule, which included two schools that participated in the 2005 NCAA Tournament. Connecticut, which was crowned NCAA National Champions the three previous seasons, made it to the NCAA "Sweet 16", while Penn State fell in the first round after making it to the 2004 NCAA "Elite Eight". In addition, Mason faced five of its non-conference foes on the road and only three at the Patriot Center.

On Nov. 21, Mason opened up the 2004-05 campaign at home against Tulane and dropped a 62-56 decision to the Green Wave to even the overall series at one-a-piece. Six days later, the Patriots competed in their road opener and were edged by Monmouth, 57-55.

Back at the Patriot Center (PC), Mason went on to claim a 60-35 win over BIG EAST member school, Miami, on Nov. 30. In their first-ever meeting, Mason held the Hurricanes to just eight points in the first half, which was tied for second in the NCAA Division I record books for fewest points scored by one team in a single half and is also a PC record. The last time the Patriots accomplished the feat of holding an opponent to just 35 points was on Feb. 11, 1994 when Mason defeated UNC Wilmington, 66-35.

After a loss at Big Ten member school, Penn State, the Patriots defeated Georgetown (70-62) in Washington, D.C. to collect their second win of the season against a BIG EAST school. Guard Jen Daniels, who ended the season with a team-leading 10.9 points per game average, was perfect from the line as she drained all 10 of her attempts. Guard Keyhana Wakefield followed suit as she did not miss a single free throw (6-6) and poured in a team-high 16 points, which held out for the rest of the season to be a personal-best for the New York native.

Mason garnered its best free throw percentage of the season (.941) against Mount St. Mary's as the Patriots missed only one attempt from the charity stripe (16-17), which helped the Patriots secure a 71-52 victory in Emmitsburg, Md. Center Julie Flanders, who closed out the season eighth among conference peers in rebounds per game (8.0), notched a double-double with a game-best 14 rebounds and a career-high 15 points, while forward Tracy Ann Holness set a personal standard in made field goals (7) and points (19). Next, the Patriots went on to defeat Longwood by a score of 75-51 in Fairfax on Dec. 21.

In its last contest of 2004, Mason traveled to Hartford, Conn. to face UConn and fell to the Huskies by a score of 76-44 to put the Patriots record against BIG EAST schools at 2-1 for the season. Daniels led her teammates in points with 16 and amassed a career-high five steals in the loss.

Heading into Colonial Athletic Association play with a 4-5 overall record, the Patriots opened up their league schedule at Towson with a 72-60 loss on Jan. 2. The next four games were played at the Patriot Center, with a non-conference game versus Columbia included in the mix. Mason went 2-2 in these four games and claimed its first league win of the year over William & Mary by a score of 81-69 (Jan. 9).

Mason and JMU faced-off in a rematch of the quarterfinals of the 2004 CAA Championships on Jan. 14 at the PC and the game was close as the contest went into overtime, marking the Patriots' lone extra-session game of the year. With just over one second remaining in regulation, forward Casey Quigley in-bounded the ball to Flanders, who made a lay-up to knot the game at 44 to send it into overtime. The Patriots defeated the Dukes by a score of 50-48.

After a loss at Delaware, Mason claimed a 59-53 victory over UNC Wilmington on Taneyhill's birthday (Jan. 20) for the Patriots first win in Wilmington since Mar. 8, 2001. Next, Mason defeated Virginia Commonwealth (79-64) in Fairfax three days later and shot a season-high 55 percent in 3-point field goal percentage (11-20) in the winning effort. Guard Lauren Hediger, who closed out the season third in the CAA in 3-point FGs made (1.96/gm), tied for a game-high 18 points after setting a new personal standard in made treys with five, two shy of tying the school record.

With an overall record of 8-8 and a 4-3 mark in league play, the Patriots went on to drop four-straight games. Mason's first win in the second round of conference games was in Williamsburg, Va. where the Patriots defeated William & Mary by a score of 69-51. In this contest, Mason garnered its best field goal percentage of the year (.537) and a season second-best free throw percentage as the Patriots only missed two tries from the stripe (20-22).

Mason's next win was against Towson as the Patriots were dominant on the night and won by a score of 68-45 on Feb. 17. In this contest, Daniels notched double figures for the 15th time on the year and led her teammates in points with 17.

Hofstra was the Patriots next road game and Mason came out victorious with a decisive 12-point victory (71-59) on Feb. 24. The 71 points for Mason tied for the fourth-largest point total on the season and the Patriots also dished out a year's best 19 assists against the Pride. With the CAA Championships around the corner, Mason had a must-need win against Drexel on Senior Day (Mar. 4) to secure a sixth-place spot for the championship. Wakefield scored a jumper with 33 seconds remaining in the game, which gave Mason a two-point lead (46-44) and the eventual win. The Patriots closed out the league season with an 8-10 mark.

Next up was the CAA Championships, which was held at the Patriot Center for the first time in school history. At the postseason banquet, forward Kristin Higy, who had started 27 games for the Patriots, earned CAA All-Academic Award honors.

Mason, with an overall record of 12-15, faced Drexel for the third time (Mar. 10) on the year and just the second time within a week. The Dragons proved too strong for the Patriots in the quarterfinals and held on for a four-point win (53-49).

The Patriots' challenging year came to a close with a 12-16 overall record and an 8-10 mark in CAA play to finish the year in sixth place among conference schools.