Feb. 18, 2006

George Mason University (9-14, 5-9 CAA) vs. VCU (11-12, 4-10)
Feb. 19, 2006; 2 p.m.
Fairfax, Va. (Patriot Center)

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Series Record The Patriots hold a 25-20 advantage against Virginia Commonwealth in the overall series. Mason is 11-10 when facing the Rams on the road and the Patriots hold an 12-9 mark when squaring-off in Fairfax. These two teams have met on neutral ground three times and Mason leads, 2-1. Earlier this season, the Rams edged the Patriots by a score of 57-55 on Jan. 8 in Richmond, Va.

About Virginia Commonwealth VCU is on a seven-game losing streak, with its last win coming on Jan. 22 against Towson in Richmond by a score of 72-61. Redshirt Freshman Quanitra Hollingsworth leads the Rams in points (14.8) and rebounds (10.9) and has also been named CAA Rookie of the Week on four occasions and Player of the Week once. VCU has had three athletes in the starting line-up for all 23 games in Hollingsworth, LaKea Jones and Vera Chistova.

Last Time on the Court

George Mason University's women's basketball team dropped a 67-39 decision to James Madison at the JMU Convocation Center in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up on Feb. 17.

Junior Meredith Alexis, who had a double-double by halftime, finished with game highs of 26 points and 13 rebounds. She netted eight of the Dukes' first 12 points and hit the 1,000-point mark on a short baseline jumper with 13:28 left in the opening half.

The Dukes opened the game by jumping off to an 8-1 lead at 16:41, but Mason closed to within two, 10-8, at 13:40.

Leading 14-12 at 12:18, JMU used a 10-1 scoring run to go ahead 24-13 with 5:28 remaining in the half. Mason went more than seven minutes without scoring a field goal.

JMU was up 33-17 at halftime, and Mason got no closer than 12 points (35-23 at 18:20) the rest of the way.

JMU junior Lesley Dickinson was also in double figures with 15 points, and junior Shirley McCall finished with nine points and nine rebounds. JMU's season scoring leader, sophomore Tamera Young , scored only five points but had nine rebounds. Junior Andrea Benvenuto led all players with seven assists.

Mason was led by junior Tracy Ann Holness with eight points and seven rebounds.

JMU hit 48 percent (24-50) from the field while Mason connected on only 26 percent (16-62) of its field-goal tries.

Familiar Foe Mason and VCU had one non-conference opponent in common as both faced Howard University. The Patriots defeated the Lady Bison by a score of 71-49 at the Patriot Center (Nov. 21), while the Rams claimed an 89-66 victory in Washington, D.C. on Nov. 26.

Televised Game Mason's lone televised contest of the 2005-06 regular season is slated for Feb. 26 against Towson in Fairfax with tip-off set at 3 p.m. The game will be aired on Comcast SportsNet.

Coming to a Close After today's game, the Patriots have three regular season contests remaining and will face Georgia State (Feb. 24), as well as UNC Wilmington (Mar. 2) on the road and will play their final home game of the regular season versus Towson on Feb. 26.

Walk her Way Guard Scarlett Williams is one of three walk-on freshmen at the Division I level that has started any games this season. Williams was in the starting line-up for 11-straight games, while Kelly Scott (Penn) has started four contests thus far this season. At Cornell, where there are no scholarships awarded, there is an athlete that attended Cornell for track but `walked on' to the basketball team and has been in the starting line-up for 22 games.

Stranded in Beantown George Mason's trip to Boston was extended for a day due to Mother Nature and the blizzard that affected the East Coast.

Starting First Sophomore guard Lateisha Wade was in the starting line-up for the first time in her collegiate career on Feb. 17 in Mason's loss to James Madison.

In the Record Books Senior guard Jen Daniels currently stands in eighth place in Mason's career record books with a total of 111 career 3-pointers. She is now just nine treys away from tying Lauren Hediger (2001-05) who netted 120 in her career.

Season Sweep Mason has now swept two conference schools on the season as the Patriots defeated William & Mary (Jan. 15 & Feb. 5), along with Northeastern (Feb. 3 & Feb. 12).

Only Two Misses Junior Nikkia Slade came off the bench to shoot 80 percent from the field (4-of-5) and 75 percent from the line (3-of-4) to add 11 points for the Patriots in their 67-58 victory over Northeastern on Feb. 12. This marks Slade's seventh double figure showing of the season.

70 or More After Mason's performance versus Northeastern on Feb. 3, the Patriots have now scored 70 or more points in four games this season and own a 4-0 record in those contests.

Playing Host For the second-straight year, George Mason will host the Colonial Athletic Association Championship which will be held from Mar. 8-11 at the Patriot Center.

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