BLACKSBURG, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team's historic season has come to an end.
The Patriots suffered a season-ending 78-69 loss to Virginia Tech on Sunday in the second round of the WNIT at Cassell Coliseum. Mason (24-10) broke the single-season school record for wins and won a postseason game for the first time in program history. The Patriots were playing in the postseason for just the third time and for the first time since 2004.
Fittingly, their two seniors – Natalie Butler and Tayler Dodson – led the Patriots in their final collegiate game. Butler scored 26 points and grabbed 20 rebounds while Dodson chipped in 18 points – one shy of a career-high – seven assists and six rebounds.
Butler, a graduate student from Fairfax Station, Va., scored 26 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for her 33rd consecutive double-double. She tied former Oklahoma All-American Courtney Paris for both the most double-doubles (33) in a season and most consecutive double-doubles (33) in a season.
In addition, Butler also broke the single-season scoring record on Sunday. In the third quarter, the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year eclipsed the previous mark of 643 points set by Taylor Brown in 2014-15. Butler, who spent the last two years at Connecticut, finished her lone season at Mason with 653 points. She also broke the Division I rebounding record, which was 539 by Paris in 2005-06, and finished the season with 563 boards. Her one-season total of 563 rebounds ranks 15th among Mason's career leaders. Butler's 19.2 points a game led the Atlantic 10 and her 16.6 rebounds a game led the nation.
Dodson, a four-year starter from Harrisonburg, Va., finished 12th in program history with 251 assists. She also ranks 22nd with 495 rebounds. She played in a school-record 124 games and made 112 starts.
The Hokies (20-13) pulled away from the Patriots at the end of the first quarter. Dodson's layup with 3:11 left in the first quarter gave Mason its last lead, 15-13, of the game. Virginia Tech then jumped in front for good with an 11-0 run. The Hokies rode hot shooting in the second period (making 50 percent of their shots in the quarter) to lead by as much as 20 points. The Patriots scored just 10 points in the quarter to fall in the hole.
They woke up in the second half, shooting 62.5 percent in the fourth quarter. They pulled within eight early in the fourth quarter but Virginia Tech's Reagan Magarity responded with back-to-back 3-pointers to push the lead back to 14. Mason kept fighting, though, and cut the lead to five points with 31 seconds left. But the Patriots turned the ball over on back-to-back possessions and the Hokies made four of six free throws to seal the victory.
Freshman Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 15 points and dished out four assists and made three 3-pointers. The point guard from Madrid, Spain, finished the season with 605 points for the most by a Mason freshman and fourth-most by any player in a single season in program history. The Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year averaged 17.8 points - third-most in the A-10 - and scored in double figures in 33 of 34 games.
Virginia Tech's Taylor Emery led the way with 23 points. The Hokies also made nine 3-pointers and scored 26 points off 17 Mason turnovers.
Mason also tied the school record for most conference wins (11) and finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 for its highest finish since joining the A-10 and best finish since 2004 when still in the Colonial Athletic Association.
