Nov. 19, 2009
Box Score
BLACKSBURG, Va. - Redshirt junior Ashleigh Braxton led the George Mason women's basketball team with 11 points as the Patriots fell to Virginia Tech on the road, 70-41, at Cassell Coliseum on Thursday evening. Mason fell to 1-2 with the loss while the Hokies improved to 2-1 with the victory.
Braxton was one of two Patriots in double figures as junior Brittany Eley added 10 points. Redshirt junior Angelee LaTouche had a team-high nine rebounds while freshman Janaa Pickard swatted a game-high six blocks. Lindsay Biggs led the Hokies with 18 points including six 3-pointers. In the game, VT held a 38.5-to-26.7 field goal shooting advantage and out-rebounded the Patriots, 53-33.
Mason opened with the game's first five points on a basket by freshman Rahneeka Saunders and an Eley 3-pointer from the top of the key, while Tech missed its first six field goal attempts. The Patriots kept that lead until the 15:45 mark, when Abby Redick's layup made it 9-8 in favor of the Hokies. Saunders would tie the game at 11 with a trey, but a 10-0 run by VT gave them a double-digit advantage.
Mason cut that gap to three at 23-20, but the Hokies closed out the opening period on a 16-4 run to take a 39-24 lead into the locker room. VT out-shot the Patriots by a 44.1-to-31.0 percent margin from the field in the first half and held a 24-to-15 rebounding advantage, including 10 offensive boards for the Hokies.
Into the second half the Patriots made it a 12-point game, where it stayed for much of the opening moments as the Hokies had just one field goal in the first 10 minutes. However, the Patriots were unable to draw any closer as Virginia Tech picked up the win, its fifth in the eight total matchups between the two schools.
Mason returns home to open a season-long four-game homestand, beginning with a matchup against Jacksonville on Monday evening at the Patriot Center. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.