Sandra Ngoie registered her second double-double of the season as she led the Patriots to an 86-79 win over VCU Saturday afternoon for Homecoming. Ngoie tied the all-time women's basketball record for three-point field goals with seven on the day on her way to 29 points in addition to a game-high 10 boards.
“Sandy was really good and I thought her teammates did a good job of finding her,” head coach Nyla Milleson said. “The biggest lesson there is that when the other team makes adjustments, we have to make sure we adjust. That being said, she did a really, really good job getting open so her teammates could find her.”
George Mason women's basketball (13-12, 5-7 Atlantic 10) hit 50 percent (19-38) from the field including 9-18 from beyond the arc in the first half while holding the Rams (14-11, 5-7 A-10) to just 10 percent (1-10) from three and 28.6 percent (8-28) from the field. Ngoie knocked down 16 points leading Mason to a 51-24 lead at the break.
“Tremendous first half,” Milleson said. “I think we really showed what we're capable of on both ends of the floor.”
The game started much closer as the score would be tied five times over the first seven minutes of play before a three from freshman Qierra Murray would ignite the Patriots offense. The Patriots would outscore VCU 39-12 over the final 13 minutes of the half with eight of 10 Patriots registering at least two points, including eight points from Murray and 10 from Brown. Murray ended the game with a career-high 12 points while Brown finished with 20.
The Patriots cooled off in the second half, shooting just 34.6 percent (9-26) from the field while the Rams responded by knocking down 4-8 from beyond the arc to outscore Mason 55-35 in the second half. However, the Patriots first half lead would hold for the win.
“I thought we got a little stagnant the second half with our ball movement,I think we settled a little bit,” Milleson said. “There's going to be a lot to learn from the final six or seven minutes. But we were so much better handling their pressure and maintaining our composure for a full 40 minutes.”
Next up for the Patriots back-to-back road games at Saint Joseph's Wednesday and Saint Louis Saturday before returning to the Patriot Center to host Fordham on Senior Day February 25 at 7 p.m.
