Following a tough loss at Duquesne Thursday, Coach Milleson challenged her team. Sunday afternoon at La Salle George Mason women's basketball responded with a 73-71 win in thrilling fashion. Mason earned its first ever Atlantic-10 road win behind a stellar performance from redshirt junior Taylor Brown who capped off her 22 point outing with a buzzer-beating layup to secure the win.
“Big win for our program today, particularly after the way we lost at Duquesne,” head coach Nyla Milleson said. “It's been a tough road swing here, with travel issues and weather, it doesn't seem like much has gone right. But it went right today.”
The Patriots held the lead for nearly 36 minutes, but La Salle tied things up at 71-71 with just under 13 seconds in regulation, providing the Patriots with enough time for Brown to drive the ball into the paint and lay it in with as the buzzer sounded.
“There's not a player, maybe in the country, that I want in the position more than Tay Brown” Milleson said. “She's a special player. More importantly around the eight-minute mark I challenged her defensively, I thought she was being a little soft. After that she really stepped her defense up.”
Four players hit double digits for the Patriots as senior Sandra Ngoie and redshirt junior Jasmine Jackson contributed 16 points each and redshirt junior Kristi Mokube add 10 points, five assists, two steals and seven rebounds on the day.
“I thought Kristi was very consistent,” Milleson said. “She gave us great energy. But I really thought Sandy set the tone early. When we can get more than one or two scorers in double-digits we're a really good basketball team. She helped us set the tone early that it wasn't going to be the Tay Brown show. ”
Ngoie fueled the Patriots in the first half hitting four treys to help Mason take a 37-32 lead into the break. After Brown put Mason on the board first with a jumper less than a minute into the game. La Salle quickly responded with a three, but Ngoie registered her 100th career three-point basket in Green and Gold to give the Patriots back the lead. As a team, Mason shot 50% from the field in the first half and 48% on the game.
Brown also hit a career milestone in the first half when she hit a free throw to register her 949th point as a Patriot to momentarily move into a tie for Mason's 20th all-time scorer before a jumper gave her sole ownership of the spot.
The Patriots return home to host St. Bonaventure Wednesday as the first 10-win Mason women's basketball team since the Patriots finished 15-16 in the 2011-12 season.
