CONWAY, S.C. – A first quarter hole was too much to overcome as the George Mason women's basketball team fell to Coastal Carolina, 74-59, on Sunday at the Coastal Carolina Thanksgiving Classic in Conway, S.C.
Despite the Patriots outscoring the Chants 40-34 in the second half, Coastal Carolina's 23 first-quarter points proved to be the difference. The Patriots drop to 4-4 overall while the Chants improve to 5-1 on the season.
Junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary finished with a game-high 21 points while going 9-of-12 from the free throw line. As a team, the Patriots shot 38.3 percent from the floor (18-47) and 23.8 percent from deep (5-21).
Coastal opened the game shooting 4-of-6 from the floor, forcing a Mason timeout (10-0). The Patriots committed eight turnovers and went 0-of-7 from the field during the period. All of Mason's six points came from the free throw line as the Patriots trailed 23-6 after one quarter of play.
In the second quarter, freshman
Tamia Lawhorne knocked down Mason's first trey of the game with under six minutes remaining (32-11). Fellow freshman
Jordan Wakefield later notched a steal and scored her first career basket for the Green & Gold with 3:42 on the clock (34-13). At the break, the Patriots trailed by 21 (40-19).
Mason shot 18.2 percent from the floor (4-22) and just 10.0 percent from behind the arc (1-10) in the first half. More than half of Mason's first-half points came from the charity stripe (10-13 FT). Coastal shot 50.0 percent from the field and held the advantage in points in the paint (24-6), points off turnovers (18-4) and fast break points (10-0).
The Patriots cut the deficit to 11 with 1:54 remaining in the third quarter after a 7-0 streak, including four points by Cardaño-Hillary. However, Coastal responded with a 6-0 run to end the period (55-38).
Senior
Jacy Bolton made three of her last four field goals while
Allie McCool shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the floor. The Patriots managed to trim the deficit to 12 in the fourth quarter but Coastal held on to take the contest, 74-59.
Mason returns home Wednesday against Bucknell at 11 a.m. for Elementary School Day.
