FAIRFAX, Va. – In a game that came down to the wire, the George Mason women's basketball team was able to edge to victory, defeating Saint Joseph's 68-59 on Wednesday afternoon.
Junior
Sarah Kaminski led the way, tying career highs with 17 points and five assists as Mason won its third straight in its final home game of the regular season. The Patriots (16-12, 8-7 Atlantic 10) will host another game at EagleBank Arena, locking up a first-round home game in the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship at noon next Tuesday. Ticket information will become available soon.
Mason is currently in seventh place in the A-10 and owns the tiebreakers against the teams in eight place – St. Joe's and George Washington – so they can do no worse than the seventh seed. The No. 3-8 seeds host first-round games. Mason's opponent will be determined after this weekend's final regular-season games.
The win also guaranteed the Patriots their second straight winning season, something they haven't accomplished since the 2002-03 and 2003-04 seasons. The 40 wins over the last two seasons are also the most wins in a two-year span in program history, eclipsing the previous mark of 39 between the 1987-88 and 1988-89 seasons.
Sophomore Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 15 points and fellow sophomore
Camarie Gatling added 11 points and eight rebounds. Junior
Jacy Bolton nearly had her 10th double-double of the season with nine points and 11 rebounds. Junior
Alexsis Grate also tied a career high with six assists. Mason committed just seven turnovers – its fewest since six against Utah on Nov. 20, 2015.
"It kind of felt a little awkward all day,but this is the definition of finding a way to win and grinding it out in the fourth quarter," Mason head coach
Nyla Milleson said. "Very proud of our defensive effort down the stretch. We were a little concerned, and I don't know if it's so much of a 'hangover' from the big win the other night, as we were just tired. We found a way and everybody else in the country is tired. The way our games have fallen in the last couple of weeks, we've been about 10 days without a day off. That not breaking any NCAA rules, but we've just had 10 days without a day off. Even though the preparation has been fairly light physically, there's also school going on and midterms coming up, but I thought we played a little bit tired, but, wow, did we really come together coming down the stretch. A really big win for us against a really good St. Joe's team."
The first half of the game was a back-and-forth contest between the Patriots and the Hawks (11-17. 7-8) with seven different lead changes. Mason got a huge help from Cardano- Hillary, as she made three back to back jumpers midway through the second quarter, inducing one off a fast break (7:22). Mason held St. Joes to just eight percent from beyond the arc in the first half. Heading into the locker room, George Mason led 26-25.
In the second half, the Hawks held their own during the third quarter and were able to put together a 12-0 run. However, coming down the stretch of the fourth quarter, the Patriots held St. Joseph's to just a 21 percent shooting, with Mason making 60 percent of their shots. Mason outscored the Hawks 21-11 in the fourth quarter.
Senior guard Jewel Trigg made a critical layup, which tied the game at 53 at the 5:11 mark. Kaminski shined in the second half, recording 12 of her 17 points and going 3-5 from behind the arc. Mason went on a 10-0 run late in the fourth quarter as Kaminski hit a clutch three pointer at the 2:52 mark, giving the Patriots a four-point lead over the Hawks, 57-53.
A late 3-pointer by Hawks guard Alyssa Monaghan cut the Patriots' lead to just three, 59-56, but Gatling answered right back with a critical layup, which gave the Patriots a five-point lead. With a strong defensive effort, Mason was able to keep any possible comeback at bay, holding the Hawks to just 21.1 percent shooting (4-of-19) in the final quarter.
The Patriots hits the road against La Salle at 2 p.m. on Saturday in Philadelphia in the final game of the regular season.
