George Washington Stages Comeback Win Over George Mason, 67-58

Second Half Surge Sends Women's Basketball Past Delaware, 51-48

George Mason Athletics Women's Basketball 1/27/2011 9:56:00 PM

NEWARK, Del. – Rahneeka Saunders connected on a pair of free throws with 37 seconds to play to give George Mason a three-point lead as the Patriots forced two Delaware turnovers in the final seconds of play to seal a 51-48 Colonial Athletic Association win Thursday night. Amber Easter recorded her second consecutive double-double to pace the Patriots to victory in the Bob Carpenter Center. Mason improved to 3-5 in league action and 9-10 overall after picking up its first road CAA win, while the Blue Hens dipped to 11-8 (4-5 CAA).

Mason sliced Delaware's largest lead of 10 points in the first half to a six-point halftime deficit and continued to battle back early in the second frame. The Patriots' first lead occurred at the seven minute mark off a Christine Weithman jumper as the Patriots forced Delaware to chase the lead on limited time the remainder of the game.

The Patriots shot 33.9 percent from the floor and won the rebounding battle, 43-33, led by Easter with 12 boards and 11 points. A trio of Patriots followed Easter with eight points each in Angelee LaTouche, Taleia Moton and Brittany Eley. Vanessa Kabongo and Lauren Carra led the Blue Hens with 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Mason capitalized on Delaware's 22 turnovers, converting the errors into 15 points, including six unanswered fast break points. Led by Easter, the Patriots were 70 percent at the free throw line going 7-for-10. Delaware shot 61.9 percent at the charity stripe (13-21).

Trailing 30-24 at the break, Mason opened the second half with a 4-0 run to set up a one possession contest on baskets from LaTouche and Moton before Eley hit Mason's first three-pointer of the outing to make it a one-point ballgame, 34-33 with 12:33 to play. Delaware, scoreless from the field for the first eight and a half minutes, committed eight turnovers over that span and didn't hit its first field goal until 11:29 for a 36-33 advantage. Eley connected on her second trey at 10:59 to knot the score at 36-all.

A trio of turnovers from Mason allowed Delaware to post a 4-0 run and retake a 40-36 lead, but Moton delivered a wide open pass to Weithman on the left wing to drain a three-pointer for a 40-39 score. Mason took its first lead on a Weithman jumper that followed at 6:58. After the Blue Hens briefly tied the score on a free throw from Jaquetta May, Saunders hit a triple and Easter connected on a free throw to give Mason a 45-41 advantage with 5:35 to play. Mason took a five-point lead, 49-44, on two free throws from Easter, but Jocelyn Bailey hit both shots of a one-and-one to make it 49-46 with 2:10 remaining. The conference teams traded successful trips to the charity stripe as Delaware burned its final timeout at 37.4 with Mason leading, 51-48. Neither team got a shot off in the final 37 seconds as Delaware committed two turnovers and Mason sealed the conference victory.

From opening tip, Delaware controlled the first half, leading by as many as 10 points at the 10:52 mark. The comfortable lead was short-lived however, as Mason worked its way to cut the score back to a five-point ballgame following back-to-back buckets from Moton and LaTouche as the clock hit 5:03. After expanding their lead back to 10, Delaware committed two turnovers over the final minute and Moton, who racked up three steals in the half, nailed consecutive buckets for the 30-24 halftime score.

The win snapped a five-game win streak Delaware held over the Patriots entering the contest and marked the first win over the Blue Hens since a 52-42 decision on February 10, 2008 in the Bob Carpenter Arena.

Mason returns to the action wrapping up this two-game road swing at Northeastern. The Patriots take on the Huskies on Sunday, January 30 at 2 p.m.

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