Women's Basketball | 11/14/2018 9:55:00 PM
Box Score WASHINGTON – For more than three quarters, the George Mason women's basketball team hung with a crosstown foe that reached the NCAA Tournament last season.
Ultimately, though, the Patriots suffered their first loss of the season on Wednesday night, dropping an 86-71 decision to American at Bender Arena. Sophomore guard
Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored 20 points, notching her third consecutive 20-plus point game. Junior
Jacy Bolton added 12 points and 10 rebounds as five Patriots scored in double figures.
The Eagles (2-0), who won the Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles a year ago, also had five players score in double figures, including four with more than 15 points. American has won 22 straight at home dating back to the 2016-17 season.
After trailing by 12 late in the third quarter, the Patriots rattled off a 7-0 spurt. Sophomore
Camarie Gatling's powered inside for a jumper on a dish from
Marika Korpinen to cut the lead to 63-58 less than 30 seconds into the fourth period.
But the Eagles responded with an offensive putback by Katie Marenyi, who scored a game-high 24 points, to spark an 8-0 run. American, which lost to eventual Elite Eight participant UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last year, didn't let the lead dip below 10 points after that.
The Eagles made 10 3-pointers, including three in the row by Marenyi near the end of the second quarter that gave them lead for good. Mason also committed 18 turnovers that American turned into 18 points.
Cardaño-Hillary, who fouled out in the final minute, scored 11 points after halftime. The 2018 A-10 Rookie of the Year is averaging a league-high 23.7 points through three games.
Bolton scored a season-high 12 points and tied her career high with 10 rebounds for her second career double-double. She also added two blocks and a steal. Juniors
Alexsis Grate and
Sarah Kaminski added 10 points as did Gatling, who has come off the bench to score in double figures all three games. Grate also dished out a career-high five assists.
Mason shot 56 percent from the field during the middle quarters. But the Patriots made just 4 of 18 (22.2 percent) in the final period. They also converted just 20 of 34 free-throw attempts whereas the Eagles made 92 percent (24 of 26) from the line.
The Patriots return home to play Colgate at 2 p.m. on Sunday at EagleBank Arena. The 2017-18 squad that set a school record for wins (24) and reached the WNIT will be honored before the game with recognition of the 2018 WNIT banner.
