WHO: Women's Basketball vs Western Kentucky @ 2015 Great Alaska Shootout
WHERE: Alaska Airlines Center, Anchorage, Alaska
FINAL SCORE: Western Kentucky 84, Mason 58
KEY PLAYERS: Taylor Brown – 14 points
| |
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
TOTAL
|
|
Western Kentucky (2-1)
|
28
|
22
|
21
|
13
|
84
|
|
George Mason (1-4)
|
17
|
9
|
17
|
15
|
58
|
Anchorage, Alaska – George Mason University's women's basketball team could not recover from a slow start against Western Kentucky in the first semifinal of the 2015 GCI Great Alaska Shootout and suffered a 84-58 defeat to last year's Conference USA champion.
GAME NOTES
-Redshirt senior guard Taylor Brown was the only Patriot who finished in double digits in scoring, leading her team with 14 points while redshirt juniors Tiffany Padgett and Kara Wright accumulated team-high 7 rebounds apiece.
-Sophomore Tashia Brown registered game-high 22 points for Western Kentucky, but two additional Lady Toppers – redshirt junior Kendall Noble and sophomore Ivy Brown – scored double digits with 17 and 15 points, respectively.
-Head coach Nyla Milleson called a quick timeout less than three minutes into the game to put an end to the momentum of the Lady Toppers, who started the game with a 6-0 run.
-After the timeout, the Patriots got on the board through a free throw by Kristi Mokube and field goals from Tayler Dodson and Brown, but Western Kentucky continued shooting effectively and took a 17-8 lead into the latter half of the opening quarter.
-A three-point play by the Lady Toppers' leading scorer Noble late in the first quarter gave Western Kentucky a double-digit lead, 26-15.
-The lead grew to 14 early in the second quarter when Kayla Smith sunk a three-pointer to make the score 33-19.
-Overall, the Patriots were limited to only three field goals over the course of the second quarter and went into halftime trailing 50-26, their biggest halftime deficit this season.
-Midway through the third quarter, Katrina Hutzell made Mason's third three-pointer in the contest to reduce the Lady Toppers' lead to 23 at 56-33.
-Mason closed the third quarter with a jumper by redshirt junior forward Tiffany Padgett and a block by Brown on a three-point attempt by Western Kentucky's Tashia Brown.
-The Patriots began the final quarter with a 6-0 run in just over a minute thanks to a three-point play from Kara Wright and free throws converted by Brown and freshman Chinyere Bell.
-Several successful defensive possessions by Mason gave the team several opportunities to bring the lead under 20, but Western Kentucky's defense remained resilient in the final minutes and contributed a lot to the 84-58 victory.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-Five players scored off the bench and helped Mason outscore Western Kentucky's non-starters 24-16.
-The Patriots were outrebounded 49-32 in the contest.
-Although Mason had two fewer turnovers compared to its opponent, 15-13, the Lady Toppers scored 16 points off turnovers while the Patriots managed 13.
POSTGAME QUOTE
"Western Kentucky is an elite team and program. They shot the ball very well in the first half and you can't dig yourself a hole against a team of that caliber. We have a chance to regroup tomorrow." - Mason's head coach Nyla Milleson
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason will take on Pepperdine to wrap up their stint in Alaska. The Patriots and Waves will meet in the third-place game at 6:30 p.m. (EST) on Wednesday.
