Jan. 20, 2010
After doubling its win total from a year ago with its first conference victory, the George Mason women's basketball team will look to make it two in a row when they visit defending CAA champion Drexel on Thursday night. Tip time from the Daskalakis Center in Philadelphia is set for 7 p.m.
Mason is coming off a 72-61 win on Sunday afternoon over Northeastern, pushing the Patriots' conference mark to 1-4 and 8-8 overall. Junior Brittany Poindexter posted her second career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds against the Huskies while freshman Amber Easter led all scorers with 19. The win was Mason's first in conference play since upending Old Dominion on Feb. 22 last season, and snapped a five-game losing streak.
Drexel is tied with Old Dominion in second place in the CAA standings with a 4-1 mark in conference play and 10-6 overall. The Dragons have won two straight after falling to the Lady Monarchs in Norfolk, including most recently a 70-67 double-overtime victory at Delaware on Sunday. The top free-throw shooting team in the country, Drexel is powered by reigning CAA Player of the Year Gabriela Marginean, who is fourth in the nation averaging 22.3 points per game.
The Dragons lead the all-time series, 10-5, and have won the last seven games. Mason's last victory in the series came on Mar. 4, 2005, a 46-44 home win.
In the two teams' last get-together, Mason faced a stiff test in its final road game of the 2008-09 season, traveling to first-place Drexel, falling 64-47 to the Dragons on Mar. 1 last year in Philadelphia.. The Dragons locked up the number-one seed in the CAA Championship with the win. Senior Brittney Wilkins led the Patriots with 14 points on 5-for-10 shooting, and Gabriela Marginean led the Dragons with 19 points and eight rebounds, while sophomore Eugenia Broadus was the top rebounder for Mason with 10 boards, as the Patriots held a 36-35 rebounding advantage.
Following Thursday's game, the Patriots begin a rare two-game CAA homestand, which will happen just twice this season, when they host William & Mary Sunday at 2 p.m.
