WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The George Mason women's basketball team dropped a tough 63-53 decision at William and Mary Wednesday evening to close out regular season play. The Tribe went 20-for-25 from the free throw line to finish the regular season at 8-21 overall and 6-12 in Colonial Athletic Association action. Mason finished 9-20 overall and 4-14 in league play.

Janaa Pickard and Joyous Tharrington led the Patriots with 14 and 15 points, respectively, as Pickard pulled down a team-best nine rebounds. Mason narrowly won the rebounding battle, 40-38, as W&M was paced by Emily Correal's double-double of 21 points and 12 rebounds. Janine Aldridge also posted double figures with 15 points.

Mason outshot W&M 36.7-to-34.5 percent from the field, but the Tribe's 20-for-25 performance at the charity stripe helped seal the win as the Patriots were limited to a 5-of-7 showing. W&M also used 19 Mason turnovers for 18 points.

Pickard opened the contest hitting a trey as Mason took the lead out of the break and would hold the lead through the first 18 minutes of the first half. Tharrington completed an old-fashioned three-point play at 13:32 to give Mason an 11-6 lead before Melissa Collier, connecting on a trey from the far wing, pushed the Patriots out in front 16-10 with 11:28 to play. Tharrington handed Mason its first nine-point lead with a jumper at the 8:43 mark as the teams traded baskets over the next three minutes before W&M used a 5-0 run to cut the score to 24-20 with 4:57 to play.

Mason scored five unanswered thereafter, but the advantage was short-lived as the Pride drained three triples on three possessions to knot the score at 29 with 2:11 left in the first. Correal gave the Tribe its first lead hitting a pair of free throws at 1:35 before Rachel McNair tied it up at 31-all on a layup with under a minute to play. Kyla Kerstetter closed the half dropping her second three-pointer for a William & Mary 34-31 halftime lead.

Pickard would return the lead to the Patriots quickly in the second half scoring the first five points, but the Tribe battled back and regained the advantage on a bucket from Jazmen Boone at 15:54. Tied at 41-all following a McNair jumper, Boone once again put the Tribe back on top as W&M would extend its lead out to six at 47-41 on a Taylor Hilton bucket with 10:02 to play.

As Mason slowly chipped away at its deficit, Rahneeka Saunders and Tharrington hit back-to-back buckets to trim the score to 50-49 in favor of the Tribe with 6:09 left to play. Leading 54-51, the Tribe's Jaclyn McKenna and Aldridge put W&M up by eight, 59-51, with a jumper and triple with 2:00 on the clock. Collier hit Mason's final basket as Aldridge closed out the win for the Tribe at the free throw line for the final 63-53 score.