WHO: Women's Basketball at Richmond
WHERE: Robins Center, Richmond, Va.
FINAL SCORE: Mason 54, Richmond 50
KEY PLAYERS:
Jacy Bolton – 17 points, nine rebounds; Kara Wright – 16 points, 10 rebounds; Tiffany Padgett – 15 points
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RICHMOND, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team finished off a Richmond sweep.
Freshman
Jacy Bolton tied a career high with 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help Mason collect a 54-50 victory over Richmond on Sunday night at the Robins Center. The win capped off a jubilant day for the Patriots as the men's team knocked off the Spiders 82-77 earlier in the afternoon at the Robins Center.
The women picked up their first win over Richmond since Jan. 10, 1999, snapping a string of nine straight losses in the series. Senior
Kara Wright added 16 points and 10 rebounds for her fifth career double-double and senior
Tiffany Padgett came off the bench to score a career-high 15 points.
Clinging to a two-point lead, the Patriots (11-10, 4-4 Atlantic 10) came up with a big defensive stop. After Janelle Hubbard's jumper missed, Wright grabbed her 10th rebound with six seconds left, drew a foul and made two free throws to seal Mason's sixth road win of the season – the most in a year since the 2005-06 campaign.
"We battled today through a poor offensive first half but stayed together defensively and on the boards," Mason head coach
Nyla Milleson said. "We took care of the ball the second half with only three turnovers and made plays when we needed to. Proud of this team's heart to get a big A-10 road win."
Despite shooting just 22.2 percent from the field and committing 14 turnovers in the first half, the Patriots led 21-20 at halftime. Richmond (9-11, 3-4) took control early in the third quarter. Hubbard, who finished with 12 points, scored five straight points in 30 seconds to give the Spiders a 30-25 lead at the 5:06 mark.
Mason responded with a 9-2 run – a layup by Padgett, a 3-pointer from Bolton and four free throws from Wright and Padgett – to regain the lead. The game went back and forth from there as the contest featured 10 lead changes and five ties.
Another flurry boosted Mason in front for good. Padgett sank back-to-back mid-range jumpers and Wright grabbed an offensive rebound for a subsequent putback and five-point lead. The Patriots pushed the advantage to six on Bolton's fourth 3-pointer, which tied a career high, with 4:23 left.
"I'm labeled as a post but I like to face up a lot," said Padgett, who scored 12 points after halftime. "That is pretty much my game – the 12- to 15-footer and the 3 especially. Whenever I can get a shot in, tonight just happened to be falling more than other nights… It felt good to do what I could and help us win tonight."
Richmond battled back and pulled within one, 51-50, with 49 seconds to go. But Bolton grabbed a huge offensive rebound after a missed jumper and made one of two free throws. The Patriots then came up with another defensive stop as Wright iced the win at the foul line.
Mason was 16-for-19 at the free-throw line, including 5-of-6 in the final 2:21. Mason also dominated on the boards, winning the rebounding battle 47-34 and hauling in 12 offensive rebounds. Wright led the way with 10 rebounds and Bolton and junior
Tayler Dodson each grabbed nine. The Patriots also held Richmond to just 29.3 percent (17-of-58) from the field.
The win provided a confidence boost after the team suffered a 58-54 loss at Davidson on Wednesday.
"We all felt like we should have beat Davidson," Padgett said. "Then Richmond was 50-50. As the game went on, it could have gone either way… (Getting the win) says we're fighting and we're tougher than we were last year. To be able to come from a slow start and then pull it out. We're a lot tougher, especially having five freshmen this year. The freshmen have helped so much this year. It was a great win."
Mason hopes to build off its second win in three games as it returns home. The Patriots have a quick turnaround, playing Dayton at 7 p.m. Tuesday at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax. The Flyers (12-7, 6-1) are tied atop the A-10 standings with George Washington. Mason picked up its first win against Dayton last year in the opening round of the Atlantic 10 Tournament with a 66-62 victory in Richmond.
