It was the tale of two halves for George Mason in Saturday afternoon's 89-75 loss to Saint Joseph's at the Patriot Center.

It was a battle from the start with six ties and just as many lead changes in the first half. However, it was Mason that held on and took a 41-39 lead into the break behind sophomore Taylor Brown who would shoot 70% in the first half for 16 points. As a team, the Patriots hit 56.3% of their first half shots with just one turnover.

“I thought we played maybe the best half we played all year,” head coach Nyla Milleson said.

Out of the break, the Patriots would quickly fall behind with the Hawks taking a 59-47 lead with over 14 minutes to play. Fifth-year senior Janaa Pickard would connect on two free throws to bring it to 10, then fellow senior Kyana Jacobs took things into her own hands going 4-for-4 over the next minute and a half of play to make it 61-57 Hawks and keep the Patriots in striking distance with 12:23 to play. On the game, Jacobs tied her career-high with 11 points with two steals and an assists

“We came into the second half sluggish,” Milleson said. “Kyana put us on her back and basically single-handedly got us back in the game.”

Mason would get as close as 70-68 with 5:54 remaining, but St. Joe's Erin Shields would knock down one of her seven treys on the day to put a stop to the Green and Gold comeback bid. The Hawks would secure the win with a 19-7 run over the last five minutes of play.

“We don't have the maturity and the composure yet to be able to understand what got us in the game,” Milleson said. “Great effort for our team, but that's a very good Saint Joseph's team.”

Brown led the Patriots with 24 points and three assists with Pickard narrowly missing her third straight double-double with 14 points and nine rebounds.

Mason has the week off before heading to St. Bonaventure on Wednesday, Feb. 22 followed by a match-up with Fordham on Saturday.