WHO: Women's Basketball at Detroit Mercy
WHERE: Calihan Hall, Detroit, Mich.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 55, Detroit Mercy 54
KEY PLAYERS: Kara Wright – 15 points, three steals; Allie McCool – 11 points; Tayler Dodson – 10 rebounds

DETROIT – Trailing late in the Motor City, senior Kara Wright drove in the lane to deliver the George Mason women's basketball team to a crucial road win.

Wright made a driving layup with 3.5 seconds left to lift the Patriots to a 55-54 victory over Detroit Mercy on Wednesday in front of a crowd of 3,117 as Calihan Hall was filled with boisterous elementary and middle school students on Field Trip Day. Wright finished with a game-high 15 points, freshman Allie McCool added a career-high 11 points and junior Tayler Dodson set career highs with 10 rebounds and three steals.

Having lost their last two games by a combined five points, the Patriots (4-4) shook off a slow start and battled back at the end to snap a two-game losing streak.

"Great road win in front of 2,000 screaming children," head coach Nyla Milleson said. "I think our close games we've had in our last several games I think really paid off today. We just kept grinding and found a way to win there at the end. I just thought it was a really, really great team effort."

Wright made one of two free throws to give Mason a one-point lead with 33 seconds to go. But Detroit Mercy (3-4) drew a foul and regained the lead with 7.1 seconds remaining on two free throws by Rosanna Reynolds.

Mason then called a timeout, advancing the ball past halfcourt and setting up the game-winning play. Dodson inbounded the ball to Wright at the top of the key. She immediately drove left and sliced in the lane, laying in a contested layup with her right hand. The Titans rushed the ball up the court to get off one last shot, but Reynolds' 3-pointer was well off the mark as time expired.

"The play was initially for me to attack and create something," Wright said. "I got the ball and I didn't even notice when Coach M drew it up but it really was an overload on one side. I had Lex to the left and her girl acted like she didn't want to commit. Once I saw the gap, I went. I was right there at the rim and I just laid it up and it went in."

Added Milleson: "We had a couple options but Kara Wright is our senior, our go-to player and we just have to continue to show confidence in her and she has to have confidence in herself to get to the rim. I thought all game we stayed aggressive to the rim. We didn't make a lot of close end shots that we're going to make a lot of games but we got to the free-throw line. Just really stayed aggressive."

With an early tip at 11 a.m., both teams struggled to get going offensively in the opening minutes. The Titans, though, staked a 14-5 lead midway through the opening period. The Patriots began attacking the paint led by McCool, who scored seven of her personal-best 11 points in the first half.

Dodson pushed Mason in front 18-17 with 7:25 left in the second period on a layup off an assist from Sylvia Maxwell. McCool then capped off the 16-3 run with her first career 3-pointer for a 21-17 lead as the Patriots took a 25-22 lead into halftime.

The lead bounced back and forth in the second half with neither team leading by more than five points. Reynolds' layup with 59 seconds to go tied the game at 52-52 and set up the final frantic minute.

Mason won the rebounding battle (49-35), outscored the Titans in the paint (34-24) and scored 32 points off the bench. Nine players scored for Mason. Redshirt sophomore Casey Davis had a season-best eight points and six rebounds off the bench. Maxwell, a native of Lansing, Mich., scored five points, grabbed five rebounds, had two assists and one steal in front of numerous family and friends.

Defensively, the Patriots held Detroit Mercy to just 33.9 percent shooting. They also kept Reynolds, the Horizon League Preseason Player of the Year and the Titans' leading scorer with 16.7 ppg, to just seven points.

"This is great because the past couple games we've let some get away from us," Wright said. "We had a little adversity. The last practice we had on Monday really helped us. We won this game because of the previous games we've had. Everybody stayed together. Allie gave us big minutes. Syl gave us good minutes. We played really good defense down the stretch. Our post really buckled down. This is a great team win."

Mason will get a couple days off before getting an early start with Atlantic 10 Conference play against Massachusetts at 1 p.m. on Sunday in Amherst, Mass. The Patriots will then step back out of conference for the next five games before resuming A-10 play on New Year's Eve at home against St. Bonaventure.