Women's Basketball | 3/4/2019 9:08:00 PM

WHAT: Atlantic 10 Championship – First Round
WHO: No. 7 seed George Mason vs. No. 10 seed Massachusetts
WHEN: Tuesday, Noon
WHERE: EagleBank Arena, Fairfax, Va.
RECORDS: Mason (16-13, 8-8 Atlantic 10); Massachusetts (15-15, 7-9 Atlantic 10)
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads 8-1
LAST MEETING: Mason defeated Massachusetts 70-52 on Jan. 16, 2019 in Amherst, Mass.
LIVE VIDEO: Click Here
LIVE STATS: Click Here
GAME NOTES: Click Here
TICKETS: Click Here
FREE PIZZA: All Mason students with a valid Mason student ID will receive free pizza.
HALF OFF: Mason faculty and staff receive 50 percent off tickets for Tuesday's game, with seats going as low as $3.

PATRIOTS IN THE A-10 TOURNAMENT
Mason will be playing in the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship for the sixth time. The Patriots are 3-5 all-time, having reached the quarterfinals two of the last three years. Last season, they earned their highest seed (No. 4) since joining the league, defeating St. Bonaventure in the first round at home before falling to eventual tournament champ George Washington in the quarterfinals in Richmond.

SCOUTING MASSACHUSETTS
The Minutewomen (15-15, 7-9) have won two straight, including a 57-53 victory at Rhode Island on Saturday. Junior Hailey Leidel leads the team in scoring (12.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.2 rpg). UMass enters the tournament owning a 15-15 record while finishing the conference slate at 7-9. Both are the most for the program since the 2006-07 campaign.

SERIES HISTORY
The Patriots lead the all-time series 8-1, having won the last four meetings. That includes a 70-52 victory in Amherst, Mass., earlier this season. Sophomore Nicole Cardaño-Hillary led the way with 22 points, five assists and five rebounds. Sophomore Camarie Gatling added 15 points, junior Sarah Kaminski chipped in 12 points and six rebounds and junior Jacy Bolton also added 12 points and eight rebounds. Mason is 1-0 against the Minutewomen in the A-10 Tournament. The Patriots defeated UMass 85-75 in overtime on March 5, 2014 in Richmond in their first ever A-10 tournament game.

LAST TIME OUT
Sophomore Nicole Cardaño-Hillary scored a game-high 30 points but La Salle prevailed in overtime with a 77-71 victory on Saturday in Philadelphia to close out the regular season. Cardano-Hillary's 3-pointer with 28 seconds left put the Patriots head. But La Salle responded with a trey with seven seconds to go to force overtime. The Explorers then scored the first six points of overtime and never looked back. Cardano-Hillary also grabbed eight rebounds and nabbed two steals in a career-high 43 minutes. Junior Alexsis Grate added 10 points and five rebounds and junior Jacy Bolton had nine points, 10 rebounds and five assists.