Oct. 11, 2006

The 2006-07 season marks the first time in two years in which George Mason University's women's basketball has more upperclassmen on its roster than underclassmen. With this, head coach Debbie Taneyhill has a theme set for this year's women's basketball team, which is `career year'.

"Our goal for this year is to improve upon the past two seasons," said Taneyhill. "We have not been pleased with our overall record and, as a team that used to consistently challenge for the top of the conference, we want to get back there.

"We need to have all the players have a career year this season. For example, if someone averaged 10 points per game, they need to now average 12. We want to give our team a different look and change it a little to meet our personnel since a lot of what we do on the court will depend on the match-ups with the athletes on the team, many of whom are versatile."

The Patriots return four starters from last year's squad, as well as 12 letterwinners. Junior Moni Akintunde is one of them and she brings a strong presence to the forward position. She is just one of two Mason players who started every game last year and ended up closing out the season leading Mason in rebounds with 7.2 per game, which was also 10th among Colonial Athletic Association peers. Akintunde tallied six double-doubles on the season, scored in double figures on 11 occasions and pulled down 10 or more rebounds nine times. She grabbed a game-high 15 boards to match a personal-best and also scored a team second-best 12 points in Mason's 67-65 overtime win at Hofstra. In addition, Akintunde now sits 31st in Mason's record books in career rebounds with 359 and is also 23rd with 31 career blocked shots.

"Moni is a great rebounder, no question," commented Taneyhill. "She put up some great numbers last year and we are looking for her to be more consistent this year at the forward position."

Joining Akintunde at the forward position is senior Tracy Ann Holness, senior Nikkia Slade, redshirt sophomore Whitney Ward and sophomore Tiffany Burroughs. Holness is the lone Mason senior who has played her entire collegiate career with the Patriots. She saw action in all 29 games last season and was in the starting line-up every game except for two. Holness scored in double figures 12 times during the season, which included a team-high 11 points after shooting a perfect 4-of-4 in Mason's victory over Towson. She led all scorers for a new career-high of 25 points at Georgia State after shooting 10-of-19 from the field for a new personal-best made field goals. Holness closed out the year second among teammates in both points and rebounds with 9.3 and 4.8, respectively.

"Tracy should challenge for a starting position this season, but we need her to be consistent" added Taneyhill. "Tracy would have a tremendous game for us last season, but sometimes it would be followed up by a performance that was not as strong."

Slade, a junior college transfer, saw action in all 29 games in 2005-06 and started three of those contests. Slade ended the year third on the team in rebounds with 4.1 per game and posted a field goal percentage of .407. Slade scored in double figures nine times during the season and closed out the season sixth among teammates in scoring with 6.3 ppg. She started her first game for the Patriots and scored a team second-best 11 points against James Madison on Jan. 6. Slade came off the bench to pour in a team-high 18 points after shooting 67 percent on the night and making a career-high eight field goals at Siena (Dec. 31). She was perfect from the charity stripe (6-of-6) and grabbed a team third-best eight boards against Howard on Nov. 21.

"Even though she is a senior, last year was Nikkia's first in our program," stated Taneyhill. "I know that she made some adjustments this year and has worked hard in the offseason; we can expect big things from her this year."

Ward was on the court for 18 games last year and averaged 6.1 minutes per game. She shot 2-of-3 from the field and grabbed a personal-best four rebounds in a career-high 15 minutes of play against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 13.

"Whitney is finally healthy and in basketball shape," commented Taneyhill. "I believe that she can also get on the floor and play some minutes at the forward position."

Former Mason player Jen Daniels was the Patriots starting point guard last season and she dished out a team-high 68 assists on the year. Junior Casey Quigley will take over at the point, the position she played in high school. Last season, Quigley nailed a key 3-pointer late in the game to help in Mason's 50-45 victory over Towson on Feb. 26 at the Patriot Center. She mirrored her season-best of 10 points, which was also tied for a team-high against UNC Wilmington on Jan. 13.

"Casey will be a strong leader for us," said Taneyhill. "She has good size up there, can shoot the ball and has embraced this position ever since the switch was made from her previous role."

In addition to Quigley at the guard positions, are junior Lateisha Wade, redshirt junior C'Vette Henson, sophomore Scarlett Williams and the Patriots' lone freshman this year, Rashauna Hobbs. Wade finished the season first among teammates in scoring with 10.1 points per game after seeing action in 21 contests. She netted a team second-best 15 points after shooting 6-of-12 from the field in opening round of the CAA Championship against Virginia Commonwealth on Mar. 8. Wade went on to pour in a team second-best 22 points for a new career-high against Georgia State (Feb. 24) and also added new personal-bests with eight free throws (8-of-9) and four assists versus the Panthers. Wade sank the game-winning 3-point basket with just 20 seconds remaining at William & Mary to lift Mason to a 58-55 victory on Feb. 5.

"Lateisha can be an excellent scorer for us as she had some big games for us last year," commented Taneyhill. "She can shoot the ball well, is very athletic and can become a great defender."

Henson, a transfer from the University of Maryland, did not play in any games for Mason last year due to the transfer rule, but will expect to compete for playing time at the guard position.

Last season, Williams played in 14 games, started 11 of those contests and was one of three walk-ons in the nation to start a game last season. Some of Williams' season highlights from 2005-06 include matching a season-high of made 3-pointers versus Old Dominion on Feb. 10 with two and was also one of four Mason athletes to score in double figures (10) against William & Mary on Jan. 15 in a personal-best 19 minutes of play. "Scarlett is probably the best pure shooter we have on our team," said Taneyhill. "She stepped in last year and started some games for us as a walk-on and will compete for playing time again this year."

Hobbs comes to Mason from Riverdale Baptist High School. She earned All-Anne Arundel County Gazette First Team honors in 2005 and was named to the NACA All-Tournament team.

"Rashauna comes from a great basketball background and she really understands the game," stated Taneyill. "She has a great work ethic, is a smart young lady and I believe her and Casey will make us better at the guard slot."

Redshirt sophomore center Jessica Smith missed only one game for the Patriots and was in the starting line-up on 24 occasions. Last season, Smith poured in a career-high of 14 points to match a team-best after shooting 7-of-11 from the field against William & Mary on Jan. 15. In the same contest, Smith tied her personal-best seven rebounds and played a career-high 36 minutes in the Patriots' 70-51 win over the Tribe.

"Jessica had an excellent year last season and has had a very good summer," stated Taneyhill. "We certainly expect her to be a big factor in the mix."

Also vying for playing time at the center spot are sophomore Chynelle Rogers, Colleen Shumaker and redshirt freshman Becky Rautzhan.

"Chynelle, Colleen and Becky did not play significant minutes for us last season, but we need them to emerge as reliable post players this year," said Taneyhill.

The Patriots' schedule this season includes four meetings with schools which competed in the 2006 NCAA Division I Women's Basketball Championship. The Patriots will play 13 home games this season, including a Nov. 14 home opener against Liberty (7 p.m.).

The Patriots begin the year against the defending national champions, Maryland, on Nov. 12 at the Comcast Center in College Park, Md. for the Terrapins' home opener. In addition to Maryland, Mason will face two other local teams during the non-conference season as the Patriots compete against Howard in Washington, D.C. (Nov. 28) and American on the Eagles home court (Dec. 8).

Siena returns a home-and-home with Mason on Dec. 2 in Fairfax and the Patriots will wrap-up home competition for the month of December against Georgia, which advanced to the Sweet 16 in 2006, on Dec. 20. Mason's lone tournament of the regular season is in Miami, Fla. on the campus of Florida International, Dec. 29-30. The other schools competing besides Mason and the host-school are Kansas State and Rice.

"We have to play strong teams out of conference to get us prepared for CAA play," said head coach Debbie Taneyhill. "We are bringing some strong teams into Fairfax in Liberty, Siena and Georgia.

"In addition, we are going to play many local teams on their home courts in Maryland, American and Howard. These are schools that we recruit against and we are hoping to draw large crowds because of the local connections, as well as the local athletes on the teams."

The Patriots open their Colonial Athletic Association schedule early this year as the Patriots will travel to Boston, Mass. to face Northeastern on Dec. 5. The next conference contest for Mason will be on Jan. 4 when the Patriots host UNC Wilmington for its home conference opener.

Five of the next eight games are on Mason's home court, including four-straight from Jan. 9-Jan. 18. The Patriots will wrap-up their non-conference slate against Brown (Jan. 9) and will then face JMU, Georgia State and Old Dominion, the defending CAA Champions. The final home contest for Mason in the month of January is against Northeastern (Jan. 25).

"Old Dominion, James Madison and Delaware are the top three teams in the conference this year," commented Taneyhill. "Madison has six seniors, all of which have been three year starters and ODU is still the team to beat until someone else can win the conference championship."

Schools coming to Fairfax in February are Virginia Commonwealth (Feb. 4), Delaware (Feb. 8), Hofstra (Feb. 11) and Mason will wrap-up its regular home season on Feb. 25 against William & Mary. After being at the Patriot Center the past two years, the CAA Championship will be held in Newark, Del. from March 8-11.

"We are athletic and have some talented individuals on the roster," commented Taneyhill. "Our biggest challenge is to find the right team chemistry and to have people embrace their roles, whatever it may be, and it needs to be done early. If we can get some consistent play out of people, this will take care of itself and the theme of `career year' may just pan out."