Sophomore Taylor Brown scored her number Saturday afternoon, putting up a career-high 31 points in 40 minutes of play in George Mason's (5-7) 87-76 loss at East Tennessee (4-7).  However, it was not enough to overcome foul trouble for an already depleted Patriot squad. Mason ended the game with seven of eight active players with three or more fouls.

“Foul trouble was really the story today,” head coach Nyla Milleson said. “We've got two post players out with concussions, leaving us with three and they all get into foul trouble pretty early in the second half.”

Despite the result, Mason outperformed the Bucs in several key facets of the game. The Patriots out-rebounded ETSU 42-39 leading to 18 second chance points for George Mason.

“You can draw positives from today,” Milleson said. “We only had 12 turnovers today, we had eight steals, both good numbers for us. We shot 82% from the line. We're just yet to put 40 minutes full together.”

After falling behind 8-0 in the first two minutes of play, the Patriots fought their way back with a 11-3 run to tie the ballgame 11-11 with just under 16 minutes remaining in the first half. The rest of the half was a tug-of-war affair with 10 ties and 13 lead changes.

Brown would close out the half for Mason with a layup to round out 17 first half points for the Bowie native and send the Patriots into the break with a 40-39 lead.

The second half was a battle from the start and there would be a total of 13 ties and 18 lead changes, with the Patriots taking a 67-66 lead with just over nine minutes remaining. But foul trouble would cause Mason trouble as the green and gold would allow the Bucs to shoot 50% from both the field and beyond the arc.

“I liked their battle, I liked their fight,” Milleson said. “We just can't seem to get over the hump and get a win.”

Brown would add eight rebounds on the day. Senior Janaa Pickard registered her seventh career double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds, Sandra Ngoie would add 12 point and Cierra Strickland put up 10 in the losing effort.

“Taylor is playing really well, we've got to continue to work to try to find her a little more help,” Milleson said. “Janaa is doing all she can, but we've got to have a consistent third scorer.”

The Patriots wrap up non-conference play Monday at Georgia Southern in their sixth straight road game.

“We just have to continue to believe and continue to work hard. I still say we're getting better, unfortunately we just can't get the win.