Jan. 18, 2009

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's basketball team led Northeastern by as many as eight, but a second-half charge by the Huskies powered them to a 59-43 Colonial Athletic Association victory on Sunday afternoon at Patriot Center.

Mason (2-14, 0-5) was led by 10 points from sophomore Brittany Poindexter, while three NU players scored in double figures. Northeastern (6-10, 3-2) was powered on offense by 16 points from Ashlee Feldman.

NU opened on a 7-2 run but Mason answered right back with five in a row to tie the score at seven. Rachel Robinson gave the Patriots their first lead of the day at 10-7 with 9:54 left in the opening period when she finished a three-point play. After swapping baskets, Mason used a 6-0 run to open up a 16-12 lead. That advantage grew as large as seven as the teams headed to the locker room.

Mason's 24-17 lead at the half was its third of the season, as the Patriots limited the Huskies to 26.9 percent field goal shooting, including a 0-for-9 mark from beyond the 3-point arc. Meanwhile the Patriots, who missed on their first five attempts, shot 38.5 percent from the field (10-26).

The Patriot lead grew by a point before a 21-0 Northeastern run pushed the Huskies ahead by double figures. Cox ended the run with a jumper at the 9:20 mark, closing a nearly ten-minute period without a score for the Patriots. Two Eley free throws cut the gap to 41-32 with 7:48 showing on the clock, but another 8-0 run by the Huskies put NU comfortably ahead.

Northeastern's deep attack caught fire in the second half, as the Huskies hit eight of their 13 attempts from 3-point range in the period (61.5 percent) and their overall shooting improved to 54.5 percent in the half (12-22). Mason, meanwhile, shot 20 percent from the field (5-25) in the second half.

Mason will open a two-game road trip on Thursday when it visits James Madison, with tip time from the JMU Convocation Center set for 7 p.m.