Nov. 24, 2008

The George Mason women's basketball team opens up a historic road trip on Tuesday at Jacksonville, the first of five-straight road games in five different states. Tip off at Swisher Gymnasium is set for 7 p.m.

Jacksonville is 1-2 on the season, with a win over Florida International and losses to Florida and Coastal Carolina. The Dolphins are led by DaVina Hamilton, who is averaging 8.3 points per game, while Danielle Gray leads the team off the boards with 4.7 rebounds per contest.

Mason has never squared off against the Dolphins, as Tuesday's matchup at Jacksonville will be the two schools' first meeting. JU is one of two teams that the Patriots will play this year for the first time, as next Monday's contest at High Point is the first for Mason as well.

While the Patriots have never faced the Dolphins, Mason is familiar with schools from the state of Florida and has historically found success against them. The Patriots are 7-3 all-time against Florida schools and 10-5 in games played in the Sunshine State. Mason's last game in Florida was on Dec. 30, 2006, a 68-58 victory over Rice in the FlU Fun in the Sun Classic. The Patriots are 5-3 in true road games against Florida schools, with two victories over UCF and Bethune-Cookman and a win against Miami, and a pair of losses to Florida and a defeat by Florida International.

The Patriots have never recorded a victory against the current membership of the Atlantic Sun Conference, holding an 0-3 record with two losses to East Tennessee State and one loss to Campbell. Mason's last A-Sun matchup came on Dec. 6, 1997, a 93-61 loss to ETSU in Johnson City.