WASHINGTON, D.C.---The George Mason women's basketball team wrapped up their seven game road stretch with a 72-56 loss to George Washington in the Patriot's Atlantic 10 conference debut Thursday night.
“We knew coming in here it was going to be a tough game for us,” head coach Nyla Milleson said. “GW is a very good team, the story of the game is offensive rebounding.”
The Patriots were outrebounded 54-39 and allowed 22 offensive rebounds leading to 20 second chance point for the Colonials.
“Playing a team of that caliber, you can't give them that many second shots,” Milleson said.
The first half escalated quickly, leading Milleson to call a timeout with the Patriots trailing 22-13 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half. Out of that timeout, Mason went off on a four minute 12-3 run to tie the ballgame at 25-25.
Foul trouble once again impacted the Patriots early, causing Sandra Ngoie, Reana Mohamed and Taylor Brown to spend substantial minutes on the bench in the first half, and Mason would go into half time trailing 35-30.
“We just have to continue to battle, right now we have to get tougher both mentally and physically,” Milleson said. “That comes with experience and at the end of the day, we're not a very experienced team.”
The Colonials went up 43-30 with 17:23 remaining in the game and would carry a double-digit lead throughout the rest of the game as Mason was outscored 37-26 in the second half to seal the loss.
Senior Janaa Pickard led the way with 15 points and nine rebounds, followed by Brown with 13 points, most coming late in the game. Ngoie also registered double digits with 11 points in the losing effort.
Thursday marks the end of a difficult seven game road stretch, and the Patriots are looking forward to returning to the Patriot Center Saturday night to take on LaSalle.
“We have a big home game on Saturday, we haven't been at the Patriot Center since November so we're going to welcome being back at home.”
The one day turn around will be the last for Mason, who has played 10 of their 14 games this season with just one day preparation, bringing a welcome change Milleson and her squad.
“That's taken a toll on us, particularly with our lack of depth,” Milleson said. “So A-10 is going to be a welcome breather for us in terms of preparation and getting on a normal schedule.”
The Patriots host LaSalle Saturday night at 7:00 in their first home game since before Thanksgiving.
