WHO: Women's Basketball vs. Stephen F. Austin
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Stephen F. Austin 77, Mason 76
KEY PLAYERS: Kara Wright – 19 points, five steals; Chinyere Bell – 13 points, nine rebounds; Jacy Bolton – 13 points

FAIRFAX, Va. – After three quarters, the George Mason women's basketball team looked poise to pick up its second straight win and head into the holiday break with momentum.

The final period, however, turned sour for the Patriots as an apparent victory slipped away.

Stephen F. Austin rallied from a 12-point deficit in the second half to hand Mason a 77-76 loss on Wednesday night at EagleBank Arena. Patriots redshirt senior Kara Wright scored a game-high 19 points and nabbed a career-high five steals. But it wasn't enough as Mason committed 23 turnovers and shot just 19 of 30 from the free-throw line.

"Frustrating," head coach Nyla Milleson said. "The first thing I look at is we turned the ball over 23 times. That is kind of (Stephen F. Austin's) M.O. We knew if we turned it over that many times we'd have a struggle. The most disappointing thing about those 23 turnovers is about six of them were (on offensive) charges. 50-50 balls. You know, frustrating. We've got to find some answers in the fourth quarter. We're struggling to finish games right now."

A close affair for most of the night, Mason (3-3) grabbed some breathing room in the third quarter. Leading by just four with 4:22 left in the period, the Patriots went on a 9-2 run that sandwiched free throws from Bridget O'Donnell and Alexis Grate around layups by Chinyere Bell, Tayler Dodson and Tiffany Padgett. Grate made one of two free throws for a 58-46 lead with 1:41 remaining in the quarter.

The Ladyjacks (2-2), however, wouldn't go away. They cut the lead to eight by the end of the period and rode Brentney Branch's hot hand.

Branch sunk four of her game-high six 3-pointers over the next seven-plus minutes, fueling a 20-6 run by Stephen F. Austin. Her final 3-pointer of the night pushed the Ladyjacks ahead, 66-64, with 4:01 left for their first lead since early in the second quarter.

SFA stayed in front the rest of the game. Mason charged back, though, as Bell's layup with 1:08 left cut the lead to 72-70. The Ladyjacks responded by making three of their next four free throws to grab their largest lead of the night, 75-70 with 20 seconds to go. The Patriots didn't give up as Wright drained a high-arcing 3-pointer to pull within two. Stephen F. Austin missed the second of two free throws but forced a jump ball on the ensuing rebound to regain possession. Stevi Parker's free throw with six seconds left gave the Ladyjacks a four-point lead to put the game out of the reach. Sarah Kaminski's 3-pointer at the buzzer counted but proved harmless.

Bell finished with 13 points and nine rebounds. Freshman Jacy Bolton also chipped in 13 points and made a career-high three 3-pointers. Branch led Stephen F. Austin with a career-high tying 21 points.

Mason out-rebounded the Ladyjacks 41-27. The Patriots also shot at a better percentage from the field (50 percent) than SFA (41.4). The culprits proved to be 23 turnovers and 63.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line. After making 6-of-7 in the first half, Mason shot just 13-of-23 from the foul line in the second half.

Looking to shake off a tough loss, the Patriots will have three days off before hitting the hardwood again. They head to Towson for a 2 p.m. matchup on Sunday for the first of five straight road games.