WHO: Women's Basketball at Saint Louis
WHERE: Chaifetz Arena, St. Louis, Mo.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 73, Saint Louis 63
KEY PLAYERS: Kara Wright – 19 points, 8 rebounds
| |
1st
|
2nd
|
3rd
|
4th
|
OT
|
TOTAL
|
|
George Mason (6-8, 1-0 A-10)
|
17
|
20
|
9
|
13
|
14
|
73
|
|
Saint Louis (10-4, 0-1 A-10)
|
8
|
17
|
25
|
9
|
4
|
63
|
St. Louis, Mo. – George Mason University's women's basketball team had a great start to Atlantic 10 Conference competition on Saturday, defeating Saint Louis 73-63 after overtime for its first victory on the road, thus inflicting the Billikens' first loss at Chaifetz Arena this season.
GAME NOTES
-Redshirt junior guard Kara Wright led four Patriots in double digits with 19 points while also grabbing 8 rebounds. Redshirt senior forward Kristi Mokube, senior guard Reana Mohamed and freshman forward Chinyere Bell all had 10 points, while redshirt junior forward Tiffany Padgett was just a point short from a double-double (9 points, 10 rebounds).
-Denisha Womack had team-high 13 points for the Billikens, followed by Sadie Stipanovich and Jamesia Price with 11 apiece.
-Four points by Padgett on two jumpers got the Patriots going offensively early on while Mason's defense held Saint Louis scoreless for the first 2:34. Mason's consistency continued and the lead grew to six at the media timeout in first quarter thanks to Mohamed's 3-pointer, 8-2.
-Padgett's third field goal of the game gave the Patriots a double-digit lead at 13-3. The advantage grew to 12 at 17-5, but it was a 3-pointer by the Billikens' Aaliya Covington that closed the scoring in the opening quarter.
-Saint Louis started the second quarter on a 6-2 run and cut Mason's lead to four at 19-15, forcing the Patriots' first timeout of the game. The Patriots came out of the huddle shooting much better and recovered their 10-point lead at 25-15 with a three-point play by Bell and a layup by Mohamed. The teams exchanged baskets for the remainder of the period, but ultimately Mason managed to increase its lead and to go into halftime with a double-digit lead, 37-25.
-Despite an early timeout by Mason's head coach Nyla Milleson, Saint Louis had all the momentum early in the second half and went on an impactful 15-3 run that helped the Billikens tie the game at 40. The Billikens had two opportunities to take their first lead in the contest, but successful defensive plays in succession by Mason kept the score tied going into the media timeout of the third quarter.
-Wright scored Mason's first field goal of the third quarter with a jumper with four minutes remaining, but Saint Louis scored eight of the following 10 points to grab a four-point lead, which the Billikens retained for the remainder of the period, 50-46.
-Stipanovich made an impact play midway through the fourth quarter when she scored a layup and converted a free-throw for a three-point play to give the Billikens a 57-50 lead. Those were the home team's only points for nearly four minutes, however, as Mason slowly chipped away the lead and tied the game at 57 to force a Saint Louis timeout.
-A layup by Jordyn Frantz gave Saint Louis a 59-57 late in the quarter, but Mokube and Dodson tied the score on separate trips to the free-throw line, 59-59. The Billikens missed a layup on their last possession as the game clock expired and sent the game into overtime.
-A three-point play by Wright and a layup by Dodson gave Mason a 64-59 lead early in overtime, a run that set the pace for the remainder of the period, in which the Patriots conceded only one field goal and came out as deserved 73-63 winners in their A-10 opener.
STAT BREAKDOWN
-Mason shot only 24.0% from the floor in the second half to allow the Saint Louis comeback, but made up for it with 60.0% shooting in overtime (3-5) for overall shooting of 34.4% (22-64); the Billikens shot slightly better – 35.3% (24-68) – but that was not enough to avoid their first home defeat of the season.
-The Patriots dominated 55-39 in rebounds, which helped a great deal for the win.
-Mason scored 13 points off Saint Louis' 15 turnovers, while the Billikens managed 11 points off their opponent's 13 turnovers.
POST-GAME QUOTES
“What a way to start conference play – with a win against a top-tier team. We set the tone early in the game on both ends of the floor, survived a sub-par second-half shooting to get the game to overtime. This was definitely our best unified team win of the season.” – Mason's head coach Nyla Milleson
NEXT ON THE COURT
Mason will return home to EagleBank Arena on Thursday, Jan.7 to continue A-10 play against Duquesne at 7 p.m.
