ANNAPOLIS, Md. – Sharp shooting in the fourth quarter propelled the George Mason women's basketball team to a 67-58 win over Navy on Thursday night in Annapolis, Md. The Patriots shot 72.7 percent from the field (8-11) in the final period to hand the Mids their first home loss of the season.
Junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary led the Patriots with a team-high 18 points, career-high eight assists and season-high eight rebounds. Fellow junior
Camarie Gatling scored 10 of her season-high 16 points in the fourth quarter, going 5-of-5 from the field in the period.
Senior
Sarah Kaminski added a season-high 16 points – one shy of her career-high. She sunk three three-pointers while going 5-of-6 from the free throw line.
The Patriots shot 49.0 percent from the field (24-49) – their second highest mark of the season. Mason improves to 4-0 when shooting 40 percent or better in a contest. The Patriots held the Mids to 38.7 percent from the field (24-62) and just seven trips to the free throw line (4-7 FT).
Mason and Navy exchanged baskets in the early going for a one-point Patriot advantage at the media timeout (11-10). The back-and-forth battle continued as freshman
Vita Stam scored a layup to give Mason the lead once again (19-18). With 28 seconds remaining, Navy hit a jumper to end the quarter with a 20-19 lead. The Mids held the advantage in points in the paint, 12-4, after one quarter.
To open the second period, the Patriots committed five turnovers and went 0-of-5 from the field over 5:03 minutes of play. Two
Allie McCool free throws ended the scoring drought (24-23). The Patriots then bounced back with a 6-0 spurt to end the half, sparked by four points from Cardaño-Hillary and a basket by Gatling. Mason locked in on defense to hold the Mids scoreless for the final four minutes of the quarter (31-26).
At the half, Mason shot 50.0 percent from the floor (12-24), with Cardaño-Hillary leading the charge with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. The Patriots held the Mids to just 37.5 percent from the field (12-32) and 15.4 percent from deep (2-13). Both teams committed nine turnovers, with Mason committing seven of its giveaways in the second quarter.
It was a defensive battle to start the second half as Kaminski knocked down two free throws for the first points of the quarter with seven minutes to go (33-26). Kaminski and Cardaño-Hillary then sunk back-to-back three pointers to force a Navy timeout with 5:45 remaining (39-28). The Patriots then used a 6-2 spurt to extend its advantage with 2:04 on the clock (46-32). The Mids finished the period on an 8-0 run (4-5 FG) to cut Mason's lead to six with a quarter to play (46-40).
The Mids used an 8-0 scoring run to cut Mason's lead to three with 5:12 remaining in the game (54-51). Mason responded with sharp shooting from the field (4-5 FG), including back-to-back baskets by Gatling (58-51). Gatling went 5-for-5 from the floor while the Patriots shot 72.7 percent from the field (8-11) in an explosive fourth quarter (67-58).
Mason returns to EBA on Saturday for a noon matchup against Howard.
