WHAT: Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship – First Round: George Mason at Duquesne
WHEN: Saturday, 2 p.m.
WHERE: A.J. Palumbo Center, Pittsburgh, Pa.
RECORDS: Mason (13-16, 6-10 Atlantic 10), Duquesne (15-14, 8-8 Atlantic 10)
SERIES RECORD: Duquesne leads 5-2
LAST MEETING: Duquesne defeated Mason 76-57 on Feb. 5, 2017 in Pittsburgh, Pa.
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FAIRFAX, Va. – With the regular season in the books, the George Mason women's basketball team hopes to make some noise in the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship.

The 10th-seeded Patriots open tournament play No. 7 seed Duquesne at 2 p.m. Saturday at the A.J. Palumbo Center in Pittsburgh. The winner will play No. 2 seed George Washington in the quarterfinals at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, March 3 in the Richmond Coliseum in Richmond, Va.

For the first time, the A-10 Women's Basketball Championship has shifted to campus sites for the first-round games. The No. 3 through No. 8 seeds host opening-round games and the top two seeds receive first-round byes. The quarterfinals, semifinals and championship game will be played at the Richmond Coliseum on March 3-5.

The Patriots (13-16, 6-10 A-10) are making their fourth appearance in the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship since joining the league in 2013-14. Mason has a 2-3 record all-time in the tournament. Last year, the Patriots reached the quarterfinals for the first time after knocking off No. 8 seed Dayton 66-62 in the opening round. Mason fell to No. 1 seed and eventual tournament champ George Washington in the quarterfinals. The Patriots have never played Duquesne in the A-10 tournament.

The Dukes (15-14, 8-8) are coming off an 83-61 victory over St. Bonaventure in the regular-season finale on Tuesday. Sophomore guard Chassidy Omogrosso leads the team with 13.8 points a game. Senior Amadea Szamosi is nearly averaging a double-double with 12.8 points and 8.5 rebounds, the latter ranking fourth-highest in the A-10. The Dukes are third in the conference in points (65.4) and assists (14.1) per game. Head coach Dan Burt is 86-44 in four seasons at the helm.

Duquesne has won four straight against the Patriots, with Mason last winning in 1999. Mason is 2-5 all-time against the Dukes, including 0-3 in Pittsburgh.
The teams met once this season, with Duquesne winning 76-57 in Pittsburgh on Feb. 5. Guard Julijana Vojinovic scored 23 points for the Dukes and made four 3-pointers. Duquesne took control with a 15-0 run over the last 5:36 of the second quarter to turn a three-point deficit into a 12-point lead and not look back. Mason freshman Alexsis Grate had a career-high 14 points and made 8-of-9 free throws. Freshman Jacy Bolton added 12 points and senior Kara Wright had 10 points as the Patriots turned the ball over 22 times and shot just 28.6 percent.

Mason fell to Saint Joseph's 57-53 in overtime on the road Tuesday night to close out the regular season. Grate made two free throws with 54 seconds left to give the Patriots a two-point lead. But the Hawks tied it up with two free throws with 9.6 seconds left to force overtime, where Mason scored just three points. Wright had 13 points and eight rebounds and senior Tiffany Padgett added 11 points.