Dec. 18, 2006

Next up for the Patriots...
Mason (4-2) vs. #11 Georgia (9-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 20, 2006
Patriot Center (Fairfax, Va.)

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Series Record... Wednesday's match-up will be the first meeting in women's basketball between George Mason and the University of Georgia.

Ranked Opponents... Since the start of George Mason women's basketball (1983-84), the Patriots are 2-11 when playing against a ranked opponent. Mason's first contest against a team in the top-25 was on Dec. 30, 1996 where the Patriots defeated #12 Auburn by an overtime score of 58-55 in the championship game of the Central Florida Tournament. Mason's other win against a top-25 squad was on Dec. 20, 2002 when the Patriots defeated #21 George Washington by a score of 63-57 on the Colonials home court.

Second Time This Season... This is the second time thus far this year in which the Patriots have competed against a ranked opponent as Mason opened up the 2006-07 campaign with a 99-43 loss at #1 Maryland.

Not Since 2004... Mason has now won four-straight games as the Patriots claimed victories over Howard (80-77), Siena (61-44), Northeastern (67-61) and American (60-53). The last time the Patriots won four consecutive contests was during the 2003-04 season when Mason won five in a row during the month of February.

Leading the Wade... Junior guard Lateisha Wade has now led or tied the Patriots as the leading scorer in a single contest four times. Most recently, Wade netted a game-high 18 points against in Mason's win at American on Dec. 8.

Double Figure Rebounds, Again... Sophomore center Jessica Smith matched her career-high of 10 rebounds in Mason's eight-point win over American on Dec. 8. Smith has now led the Patriots in caroms for three-straight games.

About Georgia... Georgia, ranked 11th in the Associated Press Poll, holds an overall record of 9-1, which includes a flawless away mark of 3-0. Most recently, the Bulldogs claimed an 80-58 win over TCU in Athens, Ga. on Dec. 17 and the lone loss for Georgia came against Middle Tennessee State on Dec. 7 (70-62). The last road game for Georgia was at Savannah State and the Lady Bulldogs claimed a 75-54 victory on Dec. 15. Cori Chambers leads Georgia with 16.4 points per game, while Tasha Humphrey averages a team-best 8.8 rebounds per contest.

Last Time Out... Mason women's basketball team (4-2) extended its win streak to four after defeating American University (3-7) by a score of 60-53 at Bender Arena in Washington, D.C. Friday evening. This is the first time since the 2003-04 season in which the Patriots have won four-straight games.

Mason took an eight point lead after junior guard C'Vette Henson made a lay-up to put the score at 18-10 at the 9:22 mark. The Patriots kept AU scoreless for six minutes before AU sophomore guard Pam Stanfield made a lay-up at the 5:14 mark to snap the scoring drought to put the score at 18-12, with the Patriots still in the lead.

The first point for Mason in just over four minutes (5:01) was a made free throw from junior forward Whitney Ward and she made her second attempt to put the score at 20-14 in favor of the Patriots. Ward then netted one of Mason's four treys of the first stanza at the 2:47 mark to have the scoreboard read, 23-16. The last bucket of the first 20 minutes came from Mason senior forward Tracy Ann Holness who poured one in from long range to put Mason ahead by eight points (26-18) at the break.

The Patriots scored the first two buckets of the second half with Holness netting a jumper and junior guard Casey Quigley pouring in a trifecta to put the score at 31-18 at the 17:47 mark. In a two-minute span, AU made six of eight attempts at the charity stripe (45-34) and then the Eagles went on a 11-2 scoring run to pull within two, 47-45, with just over five minutes remaining in the game. AU then evened the score at 47 after sophomore guard Talicia Jackson made both of her attempts at the line with 5:21 remaining on the clock.

Holness scored Mason's first points in five minutes as she made one from long range to give Mason a 3-point advantage at 4:37. After a team turnover by the Eagles, the Patriots took it down the court and Quigley was fouled who made the first of two attempts at the line to put the score at 51-47.

The Eagles pulled within three after Jackson notched two at the charity stripe (56-53) and sophomore guard Nicole Ryan attempted to tie the game, but missed her 3-point attempt. Junior guard Lateisha Wade, who netted a game-high 18 points, grabbed the rebound and was fouled on the play and sank both free throws. Quigley helped seal the victory as she was perfect at the line (2-of-2) with one second left in the game to give Mason a 60-53 win.

Sophomore center Jessica Smith mirrored her career-high of 10 rebounds, which was also a game-best, while Holness and Quigley each scored in double figures 16 and 11, respectively.

The Patriots shot 40 percent on the night (20-of-50), while AU was 18-of-56 from the field (32 percent). Both teams were fairly even at the line as Mason shot 77 percent to the Eagles' 74 percent. AU outrebounded Mason, 42-31, while the Patriots dished out 12 assists to AU's eight.

New Signees... George Mason University's head women's basketball coach Debbie Taneyhill has announced that four student-athletes have signed National Letters of Intent to play for the Patriot basketball squad, beginning with the 2007-08 season. The signees include: Eugenia Broadus (F, 6-1, Washington, D.C./Archbishop Carroll), Brittany Eley (G, 5-11, Waldorf, Md./West Lake), Tayler Wejnert (G, 5-11, Ramsey, N.J./Academy of Holy Angels) and Brittney Wilkins (F/C, 6-3, Cincinnati, Ohio/Montrose Christian/Louisburg JC).

Televised Games... Mason had its match-up against Maryland televised on Comcast SportsNet and the Patriots will also have their contest televised at Virginia Commonwealth (Feb. 18).

In the Professional Ranks... Former Mason standout Jen Derevjanik became just the second Patriot to play in the WNBA. Derevjanik played the 2006 season with the Phoenix Mercury and was on the Connecticut Sun's roster for both the 2004 & 2005 seasons. Both years the Sun made it to the WNBA Finals.