Jan. 3, 2007

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Fairfax, Va.--George Mason Univeristy's women's basketball team (6-4) returns home on Jan. 4 for the first game at the Patriot Center since Dec. 20 and will host UNC Wilmington (4-7) for a Colonial Athletic Association match-up with tip-off slated for 7 p.m.

The Patriots went 2-1 over the holiday break as Mason finished third at the Florida International University Fun in the Sun Tournament on Dec. 30 with a 68-58 win over Rice after falling to FIU, 73-59, a day earlier. Junior guard Lateisha Wade (Willingboro, N.J.) was named to the all-tournament team for her efforts as she led all scorers in both contests with a career-high 24 points against FIU and 19 against Rice. Sophomore center Jessica Smith (Dartmouth, Mass.) had a stellar showing against the Owls as she pulled down a new career-high of 18 rebounds.

Mason ended its road swing with a 59-42 victory at Fordham on Jan. 2 and the Patriots now lead that series, 2-1. Junior forward Moni Akintunde tied for a game-high 15 points after shooting 6-of-11 from the field against the Rams.

The Patriots lead the overall series between UNC Wilmington, 32-17, but Mason has lost the past three meetings. The last win for the Patriots against the Seahawks came on Jan. 20, 2005 by a score of 59-53 in Wilmington, N.C. The last time Mason defeated UNCW at the Patriot Center was by a score of 70-61 on March 2, 2002.

UNCW heads into this contest having lost its past four games, including a 75-42 setback against South Carolina in Wilmington on Dec. 30. The last win for the Seahawks was against the College of Charleston (56-41) on Dec. 2 at Trask Coliseum. Lori Drake leads UNCW with 11.5 points per game and 9.3 rebounds per contest. Drake is the lone Seahawk to have started all 11 games, but Alex Stewart has been in the starting line-up 10 times.

The Patriots play their next three of four games at the Patriot Center with the next home contest coming against Brown on Jan. 9 (7 p.m.).