FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team stayed within reach all night.

But, in the end, the Patriots couldn't overcome Dayton's size and experience in order to knock off the first-place team in the Atlantic 10 Conference.

Mason suffered a 60-48 loss to the Flyers on Tuesday night at EagleBank Arena. Dayton (13-7, 7-1 A-10) took sole possession of first place in the A-10 thanks to its seventh straight victory and 10th in 11 games.

The Flyers outrebounded the Patriots 42-27 – including 16 offensive boards – and scored 22 points in the paint. Dayton, equipped with a starting lineup that features three players at least 6-feet tall, received 11 rebounds apiece from 6-foot-3 Alex Harris and 6-foot-5 Saicha Grant-Allen.

Despite trailing by as many as 12, Mason (11-11, 4-5) hung around and pulled within five heading into the fourth quarter. But the Flyers pulled away in the final period thanks in large part to the experience of four starters who each played 30 games or more two years ago on a team that reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

"I thought we competed really, really hard against a very talented team," Mason head coach Nyla Milleson said. "Player for player they are probably the best team in the conference. Big, strong, aggressive kids who have been to an Elite Eight game a couple years ago. I thought we battled. I thought the big difference in the second half was their dominance on the boards. I thought that was ultimately the difference on top of us having difficulty to score."

Mason shot just 36.2 percent from the field and struggled in the fourth quarter, shooting only 25 percent (3-of-12). Senior Kara Wright's jumper with 1:24 left in the third period capped off a 10-4 run and pulled the Patriots within 40-35 heading into the fourth.

But Dayton snatched a steal and score on the opening possession of the last quarter to set the tone. The Flyers quickly pushed the lead out to 11 less than three minutes into the final quarter. Mason didn't get closer than eight after that and score just five points over the last three minutes.

Wright led the Patriots with 15 points, senior Tiffany Padgett added 12 points off the bench and freshman Jacy Bolton scored 10 points. In addition to Austria's 17 points, Jenna Burdette added 10 points for Dayton, which loss to Mason in the opening round of the A-10 Tournament last year. The Flyers grabbed 13 of their offensive rebounds in the second half and recorded 10 second-chance points.

The Patriots hope to bounce back this weekend as they hit the road to play La Salle at 1 p.m. Saturday in Philadelphia.

"We got to play this hard and with this kind of passion," Milleson said. "If we continue to play like this, we're going to continue to win some ballgames."