FAIRFAX, Va. - The George Mason women's basketball team dropped
a hard fought Colonial Athletic Association decision to Old Dominion Tuesday
evening, falling to the Lady Monarchs 53-39. Mason was perfect at the free
throw line in the conference loss in the Patriot Center.
Rahneeka Saunders and Amber Easter contributed 14 and 11
points to lead the Patriots (6-14, 1-8 CAA) offensively, respectively, while
Janaa Pickard led Mason on the glass with seven rebounds. Jackie Cook and
Tiffany Minor each posted double figures for ODU (16-6, 7-3 CAA) with 12 and 11
points, respectively as the Lady Monarchs outrebounded the Patriots 38-31.
Mason shot 36 percent to ODU's 35 percent effort from the field, but the Lady
Monarchs went 11-for-17 at the charity stripe while limiting the home squad to
a perfect 6-of-6 showing.
Following a back-and-forth battle witnessing seven lead
changes and a tied score between the two squads in the early going, ODU used an
11-0 run spanning two minutes to take a 21-11 lead with 6:24 left in the first.
Kyana Jacobs snapped a five minute scoring drought for the Patriots with a
layup at the 4:56 mark before Mairi Buchan answered with a triple for a 22-13
ballgame.
Easter sparked a 6-0 Mason run over the next two minutes to
bring Mason within five at 24-19 with 1:07 on the clock. The teams traded
buckets before Cook hit a jumper from the right corner for the 29-21 halftime
score.
ODU quickly grabbed a double-digit lead in the second half
as the teams traded buckets before Saunders and Easter scored six unanswered to
pull the Patriots to within five at 40-35 with 7:40 left in the game. The Lady
Monarchs regained a 14-point lead scoring nine unanswered for a 49-35 advantage
with 4:34 remaining in the contest.
Saunders snapped the streak with her sixth bucket of the
contest as Jacobs hit Mason's final field goal at the 2:52 mark. Ashley
Betz-White closed the game hitting a pair of free throws for the final 53-39
score.
Tonight's meeting marked the last regular season meeting
between Mason and ODU as CAA foes as the Monarchs will join Conference USA next
season.
The Patriots close out this two-game homestand welcoming
William and Mary to Fairfax on Sunday, February 10 at 2 p.m.
