Feb. 8, 2010
Box Score
Watch Coach Porter's Postgame Comments
NEWARK, Del. - The George Mason women's basketball team put together one of its best games on the road this season but ultimately fell to the University of Delaware on Monday afternoon, 67-63, at the Bob Carpenter Center in a Colonial Athletic Association game that was postponed one day due to the winter storm which afflicted the Mid-Atlantic Region.
Freshman Amber Easter led Mason (8-14, 1-10 CAA) with 10 points as every Patriot who got on the court scored, while Elena Delle Donne had a game-high 26 points to lead the Blue Hens, who improved to 15-7 and 7-4 in CAA play despite 49.1 percent field goal shooting (26-53) from the Patriots. Mason led at the half for just the second time on the road this season, but were denied their first road victory of the season.
Mason grabbed control of the lead early, connecting on four of its first five field goal attempts on the way to an 8-4 advantage through the first media timeout. The difference of four would prove to be the Patriots' largest lead in the early going, as the Blue Hens chipped away at the gap before retaking the lead at 17-16 on a layup by May.
The game would go back and forth from there until, with 6:25 left in the half, Rashauna Hobbs drained a 3-pointer which put Mason ahead 26-23. It would be the last time the lead changed hands in the first half, as the Patriots led by as many as six before ultimately taking a 33-28 lead into the locker room.
After not leading at the half in road action all year, it was the second straight road game that the Patriots held the advantage at intermission. Mason out-shot the Blue Hens by a 48.3-to-40.7 margin from the field and controlled the turnover margin by seven.
For better than seven minutes, the lead stayed with the Patriots but a run from Delaware, concluding with a layup by Delle Donne at the 12:51 mark, made it a 42-41 score in favor of the home team. The Blue Hen lead would be short-lived, as Hobbs hit another trey 18 seconds later, and Mason did not trail until Harris' 3-pointer beat the shot clock buzzer and gave UD a 53-51 lead with just under six minutes to go.
Despite pushing it to two points on numerous occasions, the Patriots could not overcome Delaware and tie the score. Mason made it a one-possession game at 66-63 with 6.8 seconds to go when Eley sank a 3-pointer. Delle Donne was immediately fouled on the inbound and hit the second of her pair from the line to make it 67-63, which proved to be the final score.
The Patriots get a brief respite from the road before heading to Wilmington to face the UNCW Seahawks on Thursday evening at 7 p.m.
