WHO: Women's Basketball at LIU Brooklyn
WHERE: Steinberg Wellness Center, Brooklyn, N.Y.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 64, LIU Brooklyn 48
KEY PLAYERS:
Kara Wright – 13 points; 10 rebounds;
Jacy Bolton – nine points, six rebounds
BROOKLYN, N.Y. – Senior
Kara Wright recorded a career first, the bench provided depth and a slew of freshmen looked right at home on the road.
The Patriots rolled to a 64-48 victory over LIU Brooklyn on Tuesday night at the Wellness Steinberg Center. Playing for the third time in five days, Mason (2-1) wrapped up a two-game road trip with its first road victory of the season.
Senior
Kara Wright notched her first career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, the bench offered a boost with 26 points and four Patriot freshmen combined for 24 points.
"It is always good to get a win on the road," head coach
Nyla Milleson said. "We opened with great focus and energy and got off to a great start. The next step for this young team is to maintain consistency for 40 minutes. That will come with this team because of their willingness to be coached and their desire to get better. Getting 26 points from our bench is a huge positive. We are getting contributions from a number of people.
Kara Wright's growth and maturity over the last year continues to show and our freshmen take big strides every day."
Wright set a career-high in rebounds – all 10 coming on the defensive end – and scored in double figures for the third straight game. She also dished out three assists and had two steals against the Blackbirds. The redshirt senior from Louisville, Ky., leads the team with 17.7 points a game and 7.3 rebounds a game through the first three games.
She scored Mason's first seven points and gave the Patriots the lead for good less than three minutes in. A 10-0 flurry capped by a
Sylvia Maxwell offensive rebound and putback propelled Mason to a 19-8 lead with 2:46 left in the first quarter. After a LIU Brooklyn basket, the Patriots rattled off nine more points – with
Tiffany Padgett bookending the run with a layup and a 3-pointer at the buzzer for a 28-10 lead heading into the second quarter.
The Patriots led comfortably the rest of the way, with the lead never dwindling lower than 16 points. Ten Mason players scored and 11 grabbed rebounds as the Patriots won the battle on the boards 48-35. The bench stepped up with 26 points – after just chipping in five each of the first two games. Junior
Tayler Dodson led the reserves with eight points and four rebounds.
As for the freshmen,
Jacy Bolton, making her third straight start, scored a career-high nine points for the second straight game. She also matched her personal-best on the boards with six rebounds.
Fellow freshmen
Alexsis Grate (six),
Allie McCool (six) and
Sarah Kaminski (five) combined for 17 points. Grate also had a career-high three assists and personal-best three steals as the Hampton, Va., native was playing in front of a boisterous crowd of uncles and family. McCool also set career-highs in both points (six) and rebounds (five) in 12 minutes off the bench.
The Patriots' defense disrupted the Blackbirds (0-2) all night, forcing 20 turnovers. Mason recorded nine steals, scored 23 points off turnovers and held LIU Brooklyn to just 29.8 percent shooting. It all added up to the Patriots' first non-conference road victory since defeating Longwood on Dec. 22, 2014.
Mason heads home to begin a three-game homestand. The Patriots host Pac-12 foe Arizona at 5 p.m. on Friday at EagleBank Arena as part of a doubleheader with the Mason men's team, which plays Mount St. Mary's at 7:30 p.m. The Patriots took Arizona to overtime last year before falling on the road.
