WHO: Women's Basketball at St. Bonaventure
WHERE: The Reilly Center - Olean, N.Y.
FINAL SCORE: St. Bonaventure 70, Mason 55
RECORDS: St. Bonaventure (16-2, 5-0 A-10), Mason (7-11, 2-3 A-10)
KEY PLAYERS: Kara Wright - 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists

BOX SCORE (HTML)

OLEAN, N.Y. – The George Mason women's basketball team threatened to snap St. Bonaventure's lengthy winning streak. But timely and too many 3-pointers ultimately sunk the Patriots.

The Bonnies made 10 3-pointers to hand Mason a 70-55 loss on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. St. Bonaventure extended its winning streak to 15 games and stayed undefeated in Atlantic 10 Conference play.

The Patriots (7-11, 2-3 Atlantic 10) trailed for most of the game but they didn't back down from the Bonnies. Trailing by 11 at halftime, Mason started the second half on a 7-0 run. A 3-pointer by Jewel Triggs, a layup from Kara Wright and a jumper by Taylor Brown cut the deficit to 38-34 with 7:48 left in the third quarter. 

But then Mariah Ruff responded with three straight 3-pointers for the Bonnies and the Patriots couldn't get closer than 11 points. 

Mason made the first basket of the game but didn't lead again. St. Bonaventure scored 11 straight points to spark a 21-2 run and take a 21-4 lead with 1:49 left in the opening quarter. Mason worked its way back into the game, cutting the deficit to eight with 3:09 left in the first half.

A 3-point play by Chinyere Bell pulled the Patriots within 36-27 with 27 seconds left in the first half. But Gabby Richmond made a layup at the buzzer to steal the momentum back and give the Bonnies an 11-point halftime lead.

Wright led Mason with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists. Brown added eight points to inch closer to 1,500 career points. The redshirt senior now has 1,496, needing just four to move into fifth all-time in program history.

After a slow first quarter in which they scored just eight points and shot just 30.8 percent, the Patriots found cracks in St. Bonaventure's normally stout defense. Eight players scored and Mason just 43.2 percent from the field – the highest shooting percentage for a St. Bonaventure since Dec. 1. The Bonnies entered leading the league in scoring defense, allowing just 52.6 points a game.

But the Bonnies' motion offense caused problems for the Patriots, who allowed several open looks. St. Bonaventure started off shooting a torrid 61.5 percent in the first quarter and finished 50 percent for the game. The Bonnies also made 10 of 22 3-pointers, with seven coming in the first and third quarters. They had four players score in double figures, paced by Ruff's game-high 16 points.

The Patriots will try to snap a two-game losing streak as they return home to play VCU at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at EagleBank Arena. The matchup will be Mason's Game of the Week and will feature free giveaways for Mason students.