FAIRFAX--Redshirt sophomore Taylor Brown registered a game-high 23 points, six rebounds and four assists in George Mason's 91-64 loss to Dayton Wednesday night at the Patriot Center.

“I am very proud of our effort and our energy tonight,” said head coach Nyla Milleson. “Dayton is a very, very good team. There's a reason they were picked to finished first in the A-10.”

Head coach Nyla Milleson called a timeout with her team down 16-9 early in the first half, and though she can't remember exactly what she said, it worked. From there the Patriots would go on a 3:12 13-4 run capped off by a trey from Reana Mohamed  to take a 22-20 lead with 8:24 remaining in the first half.

Mason would go up by as much as five with just under six remaining in the first half. However, Dayton flexed its offensive muscle and the Patriots trailed 38-33 at the break.

“Unfortunately it's a 40 minute game, but I thought the first 20 minutes we played pretty well,” Milleson said. “I thought we executed well, though we lost some composure there in the last three or four minutes.

Dayton held on for the lead from there outscoring Mason 53-31 in the second half and finished the game shooting 50% from the field. However, Milleson is encouraged by what she saw from her team.

“I thought we did a lot of good things,” Milleson said. “I know it was a 27-point game but it didn't feel like it. I thought our lack of depth showed again tonight. But if we compete and battle like that every night we're going to be in ballgames.”

Next up, the Patriots return to the road when they take on Rhode Island Saturday at 2:00 P.M.