Dec. 6, 2008

The George Mason women's basketball team visits Winthrop for a Sunday afternoon matchup, the final game before a two-week exam break. Game time at Winthrop Coliseum in Rock Hill, S.C., is set for 2 p.m.

Winthrop is 3-3 on the year after a 54-49 victory against UT Martin last Sunday. Two Eagles are averaging double-digit scoring, led by 15.2 points per game and 9.2 rebounds per game from Ashley Fann.

Last time the two teams met, in the first meeting all-time between the schools, Lateisha Wade poured in a career-high 27 points to lead Mason to a 67-56 non-conference victory over Winthrop on Dec. 30, 2007 at Patriot Center. Mason improved to 6-4, and became the first Patriot team to open a season 5-0 at home in the program's history. Winthrop fell to 8-5 in the two schools' first matchup in 14 years. Wade, who led all scorers on a day in which she swiped a career-high six steals, was joined in double figures by classmate Casey Quigley, who chipped in 10 points in her first start since November 21. Off the glass, Brittany Poindexter registered seven rebounds as the Patriots outrebounded the Eagles, 34-31.

While the Patriots and Eagles have only met once before, head coach Jeri Porter and her staff are very familiar with Winthrop. In her six years at Radford, Porter amassed a 12-2 record against the Eagles as they met twice yearly in Big South Conference play and twice in the postseason tournament.

The Patriots have done an excellent job of finding offense across their lineup, as six different players led the team in scoring through the first six games. All have been double-digit performances, with the highest single-game total thus far coming from Brittany Poindexter, who chipped in 20 points in the season opener. On Thursday at Longwood, Brittney Wilkins was the first repeat points leader as she led Mason with 10.