A double-double from redshirt junior Kristi Mokube and 21 second-half points from classmate Taylor Brown was not enough Wednesday night as the George Mason women's basketball team fell 70-66 at VCU.
“I thought we continued to give a great team effort, I think Qierra (Murray) played the entire second half” head coach Nyla Milleson said. “We're getting better, this is a tough place to come play, but we battled and made a ball game of it.”
The Patriots trailed by as much as 12 with 6:31 minutes before Brown would register six unanswered points. Over the last six minutes of play, Brown outscored the Rams 18-12 as part of a 21-10 Patriot run down the stretch, hitting a career-high 13 free throws in the second half as part of her 23-point effort. The Bowie native also added six assists, five rebounds and four steals on the night.
“We hung in there, we're just really struggling to put the ball in the hole,” Milleson said. “It finally started going late, but we have to be more consistent. We knew the key to the game was going to be the Rams offensive rebounds and that ended up being the difference.”
VCU scored 14 second-chance points off 19 offensive rebounds compared to the Patriots 14 off 16 offensive rebounds and notched 23 points off 21 Patriot turnovers. On the game, Mason outrebounded the Rams 46-43.
Brown got going late, but the Patriots trailed just 34-28 at the half thanks to 10 points from Mokube, who would end the night with 12 points and 11 rebounds for her third double-double of the season. Freshman Qierra Murray added seven first half points to go along with four assists and two steals while classmate Casey Davis added a career-high seven rebounds along with three blocks, also a career-high. Senior Sandra Ngoie contributed 11 points on the night, all in the second half.
The Patriots return home Saturday when they host George Washington at 2 p.m. in the annual Girl Scouts game. Mason and VCU will face off in the second half of the home-and-home homecoming weekend as the Rams come to Fairfax February14th for a noon face off.
