Jan. 6, 2009

Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. - An early deficit proved too much to overcome as the George Mason women's basketball team closed out its non-conference schedule with a 72-59 loss to Saint Joseph's on Tuesday evening at Patriot Center.

Mason fell to 2-10 on the year while the Hawks moved above the .500 mark, improving to 8-7.

Senior Brittney Wilkins led the Patriots with 17 points while falling one rebound short of a double-double, while Brittany Ford paced the Hawks with 16. SJU controlled the glass in the game, holding a 42-to-30 rebounding advantage while also out-shooting Mason, 45.6-to-36.4 percent.

A sluggish start by the Patriots gave way to a 7-0 Hawks lead early on, and Mason's first field goal over the first 8:24 minutes came on a 3-pointer by Eley. In the meantime, the SJU lead swelled to 12 as Mason was whistled for eight fouls prior to the game's second scheduled timeout.

Mason cut the deficit to single-digits at the 8:08 mark with a three-point play by Broadus, leaving the score 23-16. That margin was squeezed even further as Eley's layup with under four minutes left put the Patriots within four at 30-26. However, the Hawks closed the half on a 9-0 run to take their largest lead of the game up to that point into the locker room.

Saint Joseph's out-shot Mason by a 55.6-to-33.3 percent margin, held a 24-to-12 rebounding advantage, and outscored Mason by a 24-to-8 differential in the paint in the opening half.

The Hawks continued to control the flow of the game into the second half, until a strong run trimmed the deficit into single-digits with 6:36 left in the contest. For the Patriots, though, the gap proved too much as Saint Joseph's held on for the victory.

Mason finished the non-conference portion of its 2008-09 schedule with a 2-9 record.

The Patriots will be back in action on Thursday in their first Colonial Athletic Association road game, a 7 p.m. tilt at Virginia Commonwealth.