Feb. 24, 2007

Game #27
George Mason (8-18. 2-14) vs. William & Mary (16-11, 8-8)
February 25, 2007; 2 p.m.
Patriot Center (10,000)
Fairfax, Va.

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Series Record... The Patriots lead the overall series with William & Mary, 46-16, including a 24-4 advantage when playing in Fairfax. Mason has won 13 of the past 14 meetings against the Tribe, including a 58-55 victory at William & Mary Hall on Feb. 5, 2006. Earlier this year, the Tribe claimed a 47-46 victory over the Patriots on a buzzer-beater shot in Williamsburg on Jan. 7.

Last Time Out... Mason's women's basketball team fell to Old Dominion in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up by a score of 80-52 Thursday evening at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va.

Mason pulled within five at the 11:47 mark (15-10) after junior guard Casey Quigley (Springfield, Va.) sank one from long range off of a pass from sophomore forward Whitney Ward (Columbia, Md.). ODU responded with an 11-0 run, which was halted after junior guard Lateisha Wade (Willingboro, N.J.) netted a lay-up to put the score at 28-14. With 18 turnovers committed by the Patriots in the opening half, ODU went into break with a 41-19 advantage.

Wade scored 10 of her team-high 15 points in the second half, including one trey at the 10:46 mark, which had the scoreboard reading 54-29. The Patriots went on a 8-0 scoring run, which was capped off by a 3-pointer from senior forward Tracy Ann Holness (Brooklyn, N.Y.) at 4:57 to push her career trifecta total to 87.

Mason shot 36 percent on the night (18-of-50), while ODU made 25 of its 64 attempts from the field (39 percent). The Lady Monarchs had a 46-35 advantage on the boards and collected six blocks to the Patriots three.

Senior Day... Prior to tip-off with William & Mary on the 25th, Mason will honor seniors Tracy Ann Holness and Nikkia Slade for all of their hard work and dedication with Mason's women's basketball program.

Fighting the Boards... Junior guard Casey Quigley grabbed six rebounds at Old Dominion on Feb. 4, which ties her previous career-high and sets a new season standard for the Virginia native.

In the Records... Junior forward Moni Akintunde is 15th in Masons all-time record books with 531 career rebounds. Akintunde is averaging a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game this season, which is currently 16th best in the conference.

Wading Time... Junior guard Lateisha Wade leads the Patriots in double figure games this season with 18. Wade has led or tied for the lead on 12 occasions this season, including tying for a game-high 15 points against Old Dominion on Feb. 22.

Breakfast at Tiffany's... Sophomore walk-on Tiffany Burroughs continued her perfect streak at the line as she made both attempts against the Lady Monarchs in Norfolk (Feb. 22). Burroughs also set a new career-high in streals with two and matched her personal-best of two rebounds in Masons loss at ODU.

CAA's RPI Ranking.... The CAA continued to rank eighth among the nations 32 Division I conferences in women's basketball according to the RPI report compiled by Collegiate Basketball News through games of Feb. 11. The CAA finished ranked eighth in last seasons final RPI report and had been 10th since the December 24th report and recently was ranked ninth in week nine. The CAA was ranked as high as sixth this season in the first RPI report.

First Meeting...

On Jan. 7, Mason sophomore center Jessica Smith (Dartmouth, Mass.) made the front end of a one-and-one with 15 seconds remaining to put the score at 46-44 in favor of the Patriots, but William & Mary freshman guard Robyn Barton netted a trey with three seconds left for the game-winning basket and the Patriots fell by a score of 47-46 in a Colonial Athletic Association match-up at William & Mary Hall. It was a tale of two halves as the Patriots held the Tribe to just 24 percent shooting in the first stanza after shooting 46 percent and Mason went into the break with a 28-13 advantage. In the second 20 minute span, Mason made six of its 22 attempts from the field, while the Tribe shot 43 percent.

In the first half, Mason went on a 13-0 run in a five minute span, to give the Patriots a 23-9 lead. During that run, Mason had six different players score a field goal, which included a trifecta by junior guard Lateisha Wade (Willingboro, N.J.), who tied for a game-high 13 points. Mason scored five unanswered points in the beginning of the second half and the Tribe ended its six minute scoring drought with a layup by junior guard Devin James at the 16:21 mark. The College took its first lead of the game with about four minutes remaining and kept its lead for about three and a half minutes. Wade pushed Mason ahead, 45-44, with a fastbreak layup as the clock read 30 seconds, but the Patriots could not hold on and dropped another close CAA contest.

Taking From Charity... As a team, Mason shot 92 percent (22-of-24) from the free throw line against UD on Feb. 4 for a new season-high.

About William & Mary... William & Mary heads into Sunday's contest with an overall record of 16-11 and an 8-8 mark in Colonial Athletic Association play. The Tribe won its most recent contest by an overtime score of 55-53 against Georgia State in Williamsburg, Va. The College has had three players start in every game in Kyra Kaylor, Devin James and Sarah Stroh. Kaylor leads the Tribe in points (14.6 ppg), as well as rebounds (9.1 rpg).

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.

Helping Others... Junior guard Lateisha Wade dished out a career-high eight assists against James Madison on Feb. 15 in Harrisonburg.

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.