Dec. 22, 2009
Box Score
Watch Coach Porter's Postgame Comments
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's basketball team returned to the court and found its rhythm in the second half, breaking away from George Washington to defeat its local rival, 63-53, on Tuesday evening in the Patriots' final home non-conference game. Mason improved to 7-3 on the season as it dealt the Colonials (2-7) their seventh consecutive loss.
Junior Brittany Eley fell one point short of her career-high as she led all scorers with 19 points. She was one of four Patriots to reach double figures, while freshman Amber Easter led the Patriot rebounders with seven, a unit which held a 41-to-28 advantage over the Colonials. Tiana Myers paced GW with 14 points.
GW scored the opening basket and began the game outscoring Mason, 6-2, but the Patriots answered to tie the score at six on a jumper in the lane by Eley. Mason's first lead of the game came shortly thereafter when Poindexter laid it in at the 13:40 mark, but the Colonials regained control of the scoreboard, taking a 12-8 lead nearly 10 minutes into the contest.
The Colonials led by as many as five in the first half before Eley drained another jumper, and she converted a three-point play after being fouled to return the lead to the Patriots, 19-18, with 3:27 left in the first half. The 10-0 run by Mason in the final moments of the period swung the advantage to 25-18 in favor of the Green and Gold, before Mason ultimately took a 27-22 lead into the locker room.
Mason's lead grew to 34-26 out of the halftime intermission, and that eight-point margin would be the Patriots' largest until it reached double digits, with Mason leading 38-28 and eventually by as many as 18, as the Patriots unleashed a 14-2 run spanning more than six minutes. It would prove to be more than enough, as the gap never again reached single-digits and Mason preserved its streak of never trailing in the second half at Patriot Center this season.
With the win, Mason improved to 7-0 at home this season, improving upon an already school-record start to the season.
The Patriots will next travel to Boone, N.C., matching up with Appalachian State on December 30 to close out Mason's 2009-10 non-conference schedule. Tip time is set for 7 p.m.
