Jan. 28, 2010
Box Score
Watch Coach Porter's Postgame Comments
FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's basketball team saw two players reach double-digit scoring but fell behind early and could not overcome Georgia State, falling 46-36 to the Panthers in Colonial Athletic Association action on Thursday evening at the Patriot Center.
Mason (8-11, 1-7 CAA) was led by 11 points from junior Brittany Eley and 10 points from freshman Rahneeka Saunders, who tied a career high. Leading the way for GSU (12-7, 3-5) was Danyiell McKellar who had a game-high 21 points. The Panthers out-shot the Patriots by a 38.3-to-28.3 percent margin from the field.
In the 250th Mason women's basketball game to be played at the Patriot Center, the teams were even through the first 12 points, but an 8-0 run by the Panthers made it a 14-6 game more than eight minutes into the game. At 18-10, GSU matched its largest lead but the Patriots cut it to four after back-to-back buckets by Saunders.
Georgia State would lead by as many as 10 in the first half, holding a 26-16 advantage before a jumper by Eley with 53 seconds showing on the clock would ultimately set the halftime margin of 26-18.
GSU shot better than 46 percent in the first half (12-26), compared to 34.6 percent from the field for the Patriots, including an 0-for-6 mark from beyond the arc. Mason led the rebounding battle, 17-14. Angelique Burtts led all scorers in the opening stanza with 13 of her 16 points, while Saunders's six points led the Patriots.
Another 8-2 run in the second half by the Panthers pushed their lead to 36-22, their largest of the game. Mason cut the deficit to single-digits when Eley connected from the free throw line to make it 41-32 with less than two minutes to go in the game. Nine points would prove to be as close as Mason could get in the game, as three free throws in the final 1:24 pushed GSU to the win in the fifth-ever matchup between the two teams.
The Patriots return to the road for their next contest, traveling to Boston to face Northeastern on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
