FAIRFAX, Va. - Four players scored in double-figures Tuesday night, but it was not enough as the George Mason women's basketball team dropped a hard-fought 69-55 decision to No. 18 Delaware in Colonial Athletic Association play. The Patriots dished out 15 assists and won the rebounding battle in its second to last home game of the season.

Amber Easter led Mason (8-16, 3-10 CAA) offensively with 14 points, followed by Janaa Pickard (13), Rahneeka Saunders (12) and Joyous Tharrington with 10. Pickard's eight rebounds paced Mason which outrebounded the Blue Hens, 40-36. Saunders tied her career-high in assists with nine for the third time in her career as Kyana Jacobs recorded three steals.

For Delaware (23-3, 14-0 CAA), Elena Delle Donne finished with 31 points, nine rebounds, two blocks and two steals and was the only Blue Hen to reach double-figures on the evening. Lauren Carra went 2-for-2 from beyond the three-point arc to finish with eight points as Danielle Parker also added eight to the board. Kayla Miller picked up six of Delaware's 17 assists.

The teams worked through three lead changes to open the first half before Delaware took an 18-10 advantage following an 8-2 spurt forcing Mason to burn a timeout at 14:25. The Patriots came out of the timeout answering with a 6-2 run of their own to cut the score to 20-16 with 11:35 on the clock.

Scoring six unanswered points, the Blue Hens grabbed its first double-digit lead of the game at 26-16 before expanding its advantage to 35-20 on an old-fashioned three-point play from Delle Donne at the final media break taken at 3:25.  Pickard connected on a pair from the free throw line and Saunders hit Mason's final field goal of the half with 40 seconds on the clock as Delaware carried a 41-24 halftime lead into the locker room.

After Parker pushed Delaware back out in front by 19 early in the second half, Mason quickly cut the score to 45-33 with a 7-0 run over the next two minutes forcing Delaware to call a timeout at 14:57.  Trailing by 16 coming out of the second media timeout, Easter buried a triple before Tharrington hit two at the charity stripe to make it a 51-40 ballgame with 9:19 to play.

Delaware wasted no time pushing its lead back out to a comfortable 63-44 advantage before Mason kept the Blue Hens off the scoreboard for over three minutes and used a 9-0 run to slice the score to 63-53 with 1:14 left on the clock. Delaware closed the game on a 6-2 run for the final 69-55 score.