Women's Basketball | 3/17/2018 6:20:00 PM

WHAT: WNIT Second Round
WHO: George Mason at Virginia Tech
WHEN: Sunday, 2 p.m.
WHERE: Cassell Coliseum, Blacksburg, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (24-9, 11-5 Atlantic 10); Virginia Tech (19-13, 6-10 ACC)
SERIES RECORD: Virginia Tech leads 6-3
LAST MEETING: Virginia Tech defeated Mason 80-63 on Nov. 15, 2015 in Blacksburg, Va.
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FAIRFAX, Va. – There will be no time for the George Mason women's basketball team to rest on its laurels.

Less than 48 hours after their first postseason victory in program history, the Patriots play Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. on Sunday in the second round of the WNIT at Cassell Coliseum in Blacksburg.

Mason (24-9) notched its first postseason win with an 82-75 victory over Stephen F. Austin on Friday night at EagleBank Arena. Freshman Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored a career-high 28 points and graduate student Natalie Butler added her 32nd consecutive double-double with 20 points and 22 rebounds.

Butler, a 6-foot-5 center from Fairfax Station, Va., also became the NCAA single-season rebounding record holder. She grabbed her 540th rebound at the end of the third quarter to eclipse the previous record 539 set in 2006 by former Oklahoma All-American Courtney Paris.

Mason shot 50 percent from the field and overcame 24 turnovers. The Patriots also fended off a pesky Stephen F. Austin squad that made an EagleBank Arena-record 17 3-pointers. A 17-0 run, fueled by 10 points from Cardano-Hillary, put Mason in front for good. Her jumper with more than six minutes left capped off the spurt and gave Mason an insurmountable 16-point lead.

The Patriots, who have won three of four, are playing in the postseason for the first time in 14 years and just third time in program history. Butler leads the team with a nation-leading 16.5 rebounds a game and 32 straight double-doubles, which is the third-longest streak in Division I women's basketball history.  The Atlantic 10 Player of the Year also tops the conference with 19 points per game.

Cardano-Hillary ranks third in the league with 17.9 points and leads the A-10 with 84 steals. The A-10 Rookie of the Year ranks second in scoring and third in steals among all Division I freshmen.

Virginia Tech (19-13) has won two of three and is coming off a 56-55 victory over Navy on Friday night in the first round of the WNIT. Junior Tayler Emery sunk a game-winning jumper with 1.4 seconds left to lift the Hokies, who trailed by 13 at halftime.

Emery leads the Hokies with 18.2 points a game and 62 made 3-pointers. Redshirt junior Regan Magarity averages 13.3 points and 9.5 rebounds and junior Chanette Hicks averages 12.1 points.

The Hokies hold a 6-3 advantage in the all-time series. They've won four of the last five in the series, including the most recent matchup – an 80-63 victory on Nov. 15, 2015 in Blacksburg.