Feb. 19, 2006
Box Score
Fairfax, Va. - In a tightly contested ballgame, Mason's women's basketball team fell short to Virginia Commonwealth as the Rams claimed a 58-54 victory in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up Sunday afternoon at the Patriot Center. Both teams now own a 5-10 league record while Mason drops to 9-15 overall and VCU improves to 12-12 on the season.
The game was a see-saw battle as the score was tied 11 times and the lead switched 14 occasions on the afternoon.
In the first half, VCU went ahead by three points (7-4), its largest lead in the opening 20 minutes, at the 15:33 mark after a made layup by junior guard Michele Cosel. Mason responded with an 8-0 run, which included a 2-pointer by sophomore guard Keyhana Wakefield (Albany, N.Y.) to put the score at 11-7 with about 10 minutes remaining. Wakefield scored two more of her 13 points three minutes later to give the Patriots their largest lead of the first half (20-14), but VCU pulled ahead and went into intermission with a slight advantage over the Patriots (27-25).
Mason opened up the second stanza on a 10-2 run, which was capped off by a layup at 13:20 (35-29) from the Patriots' leading scorer on the afternoon, sophomore guard Lateisha Wade (Willingboro, N.J.). Freshman forward Colleen Shumaker (Haymarket, Va.) gave Mason its largest lead of seven points (41-34) after netting a 2-pointer off of a pass from sophomore forward Moni Akintunde (Laurel, Md.) at the 9:25 mark.
With the score knotted at 54 with about 40 seconds left in the game, Cosel came out from a timeout and sank one from long range to put the Rams ahead, 57-54. The Patriots ended up fouling guard LaKea Jones and she made one of her two attempts from the line to seal VCU's four-point victory.
Wade ended the day with 17 points, which matched VCU's redshirt-freshman Quanitra Hollingsworth for a game-high. Akintunde grabbed a team-best 11 caroms, while senior guard Jen Daniels (Brigantine, N.J.) dished out a game-best five assists.
Hollingsworth registered a double-double with a game-high 16 boards and also added two blocks in VCU's win.
Mason shot 32 percent on the afternoon (19-of-60), while VCU made 18 of its 53 attempts (34 percent). VCU edged the Patriots on the boards, 42-40, while Mason dished out 10 assists to the Rams' eight.
The Patriots will return to action on Feb. 24 (6 p.m.) in Atlanta, Ga. when they meet Georgia State for the first time in school history.
