Nov. 23, 2008

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - Sophomore Brittany Eley tied a career best with 15 points to lead the Patriot offense, but the George Mason women's basketball team fell to in-state foe Virginia Tech at Patriot Center on Sunday afternoon, 69-52, in the two schools' first meeting in ten years.

The Hokies improved to 4-0 while the Patriots fell to 0-4 as they played their final home game in nearly a month.

Eley was joined in double figures by senior Brittney Wilkins, who reached double-digits for the second straight game with 12 points. Sophomore Brittany Poindexter fell two points short of a double-double as she pulled down 12 rebounds to go with her eight points, while classmate Eugenia Broadus led the team with four steals and three assists.

VT was led by 19 points from Lindsay Biggs and 13 points from Utahya Drye.

The Hokies scored first and after a Poindexter jumper tied the score, saw a 10-2 run give them a 12-4 lead less than five minutes into the contest. That lead grew as large as 15 in the first half before the Patriots ended the period with 7-2 scoring spree of their own, cutting the halftime margin to single digits at 35-27.

Out of the halftime intermission, Mason looked to close the gap even further but a 7-0 run put the Hokies comfortably ahead. The lead grew as large as 22 over the course of the second half, but a last-second 3-pointer from Eley left the final margin at 69-52.

Virginia Tech out-shot the Patriots by a 44.6-to-33.3 percent margin from the field and held a 43-to-33 rebounding advantage over the course of the day.

Mason begins its five-game road trip on Tuesday with a 7 p.m. contest at Atlantic Sun foe Jacksonville University, the first meeting between the two schools.