March 2, 2008
Box Score
PHILADELPHIA - Junior Jessica Smith tied a career high with 14 points and the George Mason women's basketball team had one of its most potent first-half performances of the season, but the Drexel Dragons fought back to ultimately earn a 62-58 Colonial Athletic Association victory on Sunday afternoon at the Daskalakis Athletic Center. Mason fell to 9-19, 3-14 in the CAA, while the Dragons improved to 17-11, 12-5 in the conference.
Smith, who had a perfect shooting day as she went 5-for-5 from the field and 4-for-4 from the charity stripe, was one of three Patriots to score in double digits, as freshmen Eugenia Broadus and Brittany Eley chipped in 12 and 11 points, respectively. Meanwhile, Drexel forward Gabriela Marginean led all scorers with 26 points.
Both offenses struggled in the early going, as each team completed just one field goal through the first scheduled media timeout. Mason took its first lead of the game out of the intermission, as Smith drained a pair of free throws to put the Patriots in front, 4-2. The teams battled back and forth, with the Patriots leading by four on a number of occasions. However, over the final 3:19 of the half, Mason embarked on a 11-2 run to go up 30-19 headed into the locker rooms, culminating with an Eley jumper with seven seconds left on he clock.
Mason shot 57.1 percent from the field (12-21) in the first half, as compared to a 31 percent performance (9-29) by the Dragons, who were out-rebounded 18-to-12 and trailed in assists, 11 to four. The field goal percentage, assists and scoring margin all set or tied first-half season highs for the Patriots.
After making just one of 10 3-pointer attempts in the first half, Drexel found instant success from beyond the arc as Anora Suber downed a pair of threes inside the first three minutes of the half as they closed within three at 38-35. Mason answered back with a Smith bucket, and held off the Dragons until the 9:03 mark, when Marginean's free throw tied the game at 44. Drexel retook the lead for the first time since the opening basket with 8:47 left, and used a 6-2 run to open a sizeable advantage.
That advantage would shrink in the closing seconds of the game. With 26.4 seconds, Broadus sank both attempts of a one-and-one free throw chance to pull the Patriots within two at 60-58. Staunch defense off of the inbound pass forced a Drexel traveling violation, which put the ball in the hands of Mason with 24 seconds on the clock. However, Mason was whistled for traveling as well, returning possession to the Dragons, and Narissa Suber sank both free throws to seal the Drexel victory.
Mason will close out the 2007-08 regular season at home on Thursday evening when it hosts Northeastern at 7 p.m. The Patriots will honor four seniors prior to the game, as Moni Akintunde, C'Vette Henson, Casey Quigley and Lateisha Wade will be recognized for their contributions to Mason women's basketball.
