Jan. 27, 2007

Game #19
George Mason (8-10. 2-6) vs. Delaware (16-3, 7-1)
January 28, 2007; 1 p.m.
Bob Carpenter Center (5,000)
Newark, Del.

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Series Record... The series between Mason and Delaware is knotted at nine, with the Blue Hens winning the past five contests. UD owns a 2-5 record when playing in Newark, including a 67-47 win on Jan. 27, 2006. The last time the Patriots defeated the Blue Hens was on Jan. 22, 2004 by a score of 71-64 at the Patriot Center.

Familiar Foes... Mason and Delaware have two non-conference opponents in common: American and Fordham. The Patriots defeated the Eagles on Dec. 8 (60-53) in Washington, D.C., while UD defeated AU by a score of 71-54 in Newark, Del. on Nov. 17. Fordham traveled to Delaware on Dec. 22 and the Blue Hens won by a score of 66-42, while Mason claimed a 59-42 victory in the Bronx on Jan. 2.

Doublin' Up... Sophomore center Jessica Smith collected her first career double-double on Thursday as she pulled down a game-high 11 boards and netted a team second-best 12 points.

Did You Pay For That?... Junior guard C'Vette Henson tallied a new career-high in steals against Northeastern on Jan. 25 as she ended the contest with three.

Pulling `Em Down... Mason outrebounded Northeastern, 44-29, on Jan. 25 at the Patriot Center.

Happy Birthday!!... Senior center Tracy Ann Holness celebrates her 22nd birthday on Jan. 28.

About Delaware... Delaware owns a 16-3 overall record and is second in the CAA with a league mark of 7-1. The Blue Hens had a six-game win streak snapped this past Thursday as James Madison claimed a 73-65 victory in Harrisonburg, Va. Tyresa Smith, who was voted preseason All-CAA First Team, leads the Blue Hens in points and rebounds with 18.5 ppg and 8.2 rpg.

Last Time Out...

Sophomore center Jessica Smith collected a double-double with 12 points, after shooting 6-of-7 from the field, and a game-high 11 rebounds to help lead Mason to a 68-53 win over visiting Northeastern on Jan. 25 at the Patriot Center.

The Patriots started off the contest on an 8-2 run, which was capped off by a made jumper from senior forward Tracy Ann Holness, who ended with a team-high 15 points. Northeastern knotted the score at eight and took its only lead of the contest at the 12:44 mark (11-10), but Mason answered by netting six-straight points, four of which were scored by senior forward Nikkia Slade. Mason closed out the first half on an 8-1 run to enter the break with a 29-22 advantage.

Mason had control of the second stanza, leading by double digits almost the entire 20 minutes. After Smith sank a jumper with just under six minutes remaining, Mason tied for their largest lead of the contest of 24 to put the score at 62-38. Baskets were traded back and forth between the two teams in the final four minutes, including two from Smith and one from Holness to help secure Mason's victory.

Northeastern junior guard Lucia Pablos scored a game-high 18 points, while sophomore guard Ashlee Feldman added 13 for the Huskies.

Mason shot 44 percent from the field (27-of-62), while the Huskies made 20 of their 55 attempts on the night (36 percent). Mason dominated on the boards, 44-29, and the Patriots also had a 15-11 advantage in the assists category.

Seeing Starting Time... Junior guard C'Vette Henson started her first game in a Mason uniform on Jan. 25 against Northeastern.

Series sweep... Mason swept the season series against Northeastern as the Patriots first won by a score of 67-61 in Boston, Mass. on Dec. 5 and then claimed a 68-53 win on Jan. 25 in Fairfax.

No One's Perfect?... That's not true for junior guard Whitney Ward who was flawless from the line at Towson on Jan. 21 as she made all 12 of her attempts. Ward ended with a team-high 17 points, which is also a new personal-best.

Freshman Firsts... Freshman guard Rashauna Hobbs started her first collegiate game against the Tigers on Jan. 21. Hobbs saw action in a personal-best and team-high 33 minutes versus the Tigers and added a team third-best eight points, along with three assists and three boards.

From the Line... Mason shot a season-high 86 percent from the free throw line against Towson as the Patriots made 25 of their 29 attempts.

Hit the Road, Jack... The Patriots will play the next two games on the road. This is the first time Mason has played two consecutive contests away from the Patriot Center since Mason played three straight on the road over the holiday break back in December.

Setting a Season High... Senior forward Tracy Ann Holness set a new season-high in points and led all scorers with 19 versus Georgia State on Jan. 14. Holness shot 6-of-13 from the field and had a perfect showing at the charity stripe (5-of-5).

"For Three!"... As a team, Mason poured in seven trifectas against Georgia State on Jan. 7, which ties for a season-high of 3-point field goals made in a single game for the Patriots.

Not Since 2004... Mason 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.

Lone Freshman... Guard Raushana Hobbs is Mason's lone freshman this season. Hobbs is from Bowie, Md. and graduated from Riverdale Baptist. Hobbs' dad is Carl Hobbs, the head coach of George Washington's men's team.

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).

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.