Dec. 4, 2008

Box Score

FARMVILLE, Va. - After a back-and-forth battle that lasted for the majority of the contest, the George Mason women's basketball team was unable to counteract a Longwood scoring run late as the Lancers held off the Patriots, 52-42, on Thursday evening at Willett Hall.

Mason (0-7) was led by 10 points from senior Brittney Wilkins, while the Lancers (3-4) were led by 17 points from Brooke Long.

The contest got off to an inauspicious start, as the lone field goal in the early moments came from Broadus, putting the Patriots ahead less than 30 seconds into the game. In fact, the Lancers did not attempt a shot until 15:25, when Fletcher's three was good for a 4-2 Longwood lead.

Hobbs answered right back, sinking a trey of her own to put Mason back ahead. At the 13:28 mark, though, Long hit on a jumper to put the Lancers in front, 6-5.

As the first half progresses, the teams continued to swap leads, although points were hard to come by for both squads. The halftime score of 18-17 represented both Mason's best defensive and worst offensive performance of the year in the opening period, while also the Patriots' first halftime lead of the season.

Longwood, which connected on only five field goal attempts in the first half, had the hot hand coming out of the intermission as the Lancers took a 25-20 lead with an 8-2 run. Mason answered back with a 11-3 run of its own to take a 31-28 lead with 13:15 remaining in the game.

That lead held up until the 9:51 mark when Sims tied the game at 33, and after a Wilkins bucket, Longwood took the lead once again as Long hit a 3-pointer with 8:31 left.

With the score tied at 36, Longwood used an 8-2 run to take its largest lead of the game at 44-38, an advantage which grew as large as 11 as the game came to a close, denying Mason its first win of the season.

Mason will travel south once again when they visit Winthrop for a Sunday afternoon tilt in Rock Hill, S.C. Tip time from the Winthrop Coliseum is 2 p.m.