Women's Basketball | 2/3/2019 4:06:00 PM
Box Score OLEAN, N.Y. – A sluggish first half put the George Mason women's basketball team in a big bind early.
The Patriots battled back from a 21-point deficit with an encouraging second-half effort but it wasn't enough in a 64-55 loss to St. Bonaventure on Sunday at the Reilly Center.
Sophomore
Camarie Gatling tied a career high with 17 points, including 14 in the second half as the Patriots cut the lead to six points with three minutes left. But the Bonnies (7-14, 4-4 Atlantic 10) rattled off seven straight points to thwart Mason's comeback.
Sophomore Nicole Cardano-Hillary scored 13 points and dished out five assists. Junior
Sarah Kaminski added 10 points and five rebounds.
The Patriots (11-10, 3-5) dropped their second straight of a two-game road trip as St. Bonaventure swept the regular-season series between the teams.
Mason got into a hole quickly as St. Bonaventure jumped out to a 12-2 lead. After scoring on the game's opening possession, Mason made just two shots from the field over the next 14 minutes.
The deficit ballooned to 21 points midway through the second quarter but the Patriots began to get shots fall. Cardano-Hillary scored eight points in the period, all coming during an 11-0 run that pulled the Patriots to 31-21 with 1:14 left. Freshman Deja Francis banked a shot off the glass as time expired to extend the Bonnies' lead to 36-21 at halftime.
A hot-shooting third quarter allowed the Patriots to close the gap. Mason shot 57 percent from the field in the period and pulled within eight points twice. Mckenna Maycock sunk one of her game-high five 3-pointers, though, to open the fourth quarter for a 12-point lead.
The Bonnies kept the advantage to double digits for most of the period, keeping Mason at bay until a late charge. Kaminski drilled a 3-pointer and Bolton drew a foul, knocking down both free throws to trim the lead to 57-51 with 3:01 left.
But St. Bonaventure's Asianae Johnson followed with a layup and the Patriots missed on the other end. Emily Calabrese got inside, made the bucket and drew a foul. She made the free throw and the lead was quickly back to 11 points with only two minutes left.
Gatling shot 8 of 12 from the field and scored 14 points in the second half to match a career high in points she set against Delaware earlier this season. Freshman
Livija Kaktaite came off the bench and played a career-high 31 minutes, logging a personal-best in assists (three) and tying a career-high in rebounds (five).
The Patriots shot just 38.2 percent from the field and committed 18 turnovers. The Bonnies also committed 17 turnovers but shot 40 percent from 3-point range (11-of-27). Maycock finished with 19 points and Francis added 13 as four Bonnies scored in double figures.
Mason returns home to play Revolutionary Rival George Washington at 7 p.m. on Wednesday at EagleBank Arena. The Patriots will celebrate National Girls & Women in Sports Day.
