Women's Basketball | 8/2/2018 1:39:00 PM

2018-19 Non-Conference Schedule

FAIRFAX, Va. – On the heels of its most successful season in program history, the George Mason women's basketball team wants to capitalize on the momentum. 

The Patriots believe their 2018-19 non-conference schedule presents a challenging test and a chance to build off a record-breaking 2017-18 campaign. 

On Tuesday, Mason announced its 2018-19 non-conference slate, which features three postseason teams from 2017-18, two Power Five conference opponents and six home games. The Patriots return nine letterwinners and three starters from a team that won a school-record 24 games, made the WNIT and won a postseason game for the first time in program history.

Road tests against Power Five foes Kansas (Big 12) and Washington (Pac-12) and at nearby American, which won the Patriot League and reached the NCAA Tournament last winter, highlight the schedule. Mason also will welcome fellow WNIT participants Houston and Delaware to EagleBank Arena. 

"I think the schedule provides a good test for our returners," coach Nyla Milleson said. "The BCS competition in the non-conference last year really prepared us for the A-10. We expect it to do the same thing (this season) along with the challenge of playing three teams that made the postseason. I think the confidence that was built up over our season last year, I think is important – that carryover."

Mason returns nine letterwinners and three starters from a 2017-18 team that won a school-record 24 games, placed fourth in the Atlantic 10, reached the WNIT and won a postseason game for the first time in program history. Rising sophomore, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, returns after averaging 17.8 points and collecting 84 steals – both in the top three nationally last year among collegiate freshmen. Fellow starters, rising juniors Jacy Bolton (9.5 ppg) and Sarah Kaminski (6.5 ppg), are also back.

The Patriots' 2018-19 non-conference schedule is full of familiar faces, new opponents and new destinations.

Twice, they'll make the short trek into D.C. to play crosstown foes American and Howard. They'll also welcome former CAA rival Delaware back to EagleBank Arena. 

Mason will play Colgate, Kansas, UMKC and Washington for the first time. The Patriots will also travel to the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo., for the first time as the teams meet on the hardwood for just the second time. In December, Mason will play at Eastern Kentucky in Richmond, Ky., for the first time since 1980.

Mason opens the season on Tuesday, Nov. 6, against Loyola (Md.) at home in EagleBank Arena as part of a doubleheader with Mason men's team, which hosts Penn in its opener that same night.

The Patriots then head west to play Air Force on Nov. 9. This will be Mason's second straight trip to the state of Colorado – the Patriots competed in a tournament at the University of Colorado last November – but it's first to the military service academy. Mason won the teams' only previous meeting in December 2015 at the RAC.

Mason returns to the D.C. area to play American on Nov. 14. The Eagles are also coming off a record-breaking year in which they won a school-record 26 games, captured the Patriot League regular-season and tournament title and made the NCAA Tournament. They fell 71-60 in the first round to UCLA, which reached the Elite Eight. Mason and American matched up last year on the hardwood, too, with the Patriots winning 71-53, at EagleBank Arena.

The Patriots will play a Patriot League foe for the second straight game, hosting Colgate on Nov. 18. Mason then hits the road for four straight games, starting with a trip to the Midwest.

Mason will spend Thanksgiving week in the Kansas City area. The Patriots play Big 12 foe Kansas on Nov. 21 at historic Allen Fieldhouse in Lawrence, Kan. They then make the short trip across state lines into Missouri to play WAC opponent University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) the day after Thanksgiving on Nov. 23. The trip will be a homecoming of sorts for rising junior guard Jacy Bolton, who hails from Drexel, Mo., just an hour south of Kansas City.

The Patriots head east back home and again venture into D.C., this time playing Howard on Nov. 28 for the first time in nine years. Mason wraps up its four-game road trip by flying out to the Pacific Northwest. The Patriots open December against the University of Washington On Dec. 2 in Seattle.

They'll return home and play Delaware on Dec. 6. The Blue Hens won 19 games in 2017-18 and made the WNIT, falling in the first round to Georgetown. Mason hits the road one last time in non-conference play that weekend, heading to Eastern Kentucky for a matchup of Dec. 9 in Richmond, Ky. The teams have played just twice, with Mason winning the most recent matchup last December – a 64-41 rout at EagleBank Arena.

After just one home game over the previous five weeks, the Patriots cap off their out-of-conference campaign with a flurry of contests at EagleBank Arena.

They open the homestand by welcoming in American Athletic Conference foe Houston on Dec. 21. The Cougars defeated the Patriots last year – also on Dec. 21 – by a score of 82-73 in Houston in a game in which Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Natalie Butler scored a career-high 35 points and grabbed 20 rebounds for Mason. Houston won 20 games a year ago and reached the WNIT. 

Maryland Eastern Shore heads to Fairfax for the second straight year on Dec. 29. The Patriots defeated the Hawks 82-68 last November in EagleBank Arena. Mason concludes the non-conference schedule – and 2018 – with a New Year's Eve matchup against College of Charleston on Dec. 31 at EagleBank. The teams will meet for the first time in four years.