PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – After trailing by as many as 16, the George Mason women's basketball team pulled within four (56-52), before falling to La Salle 77-65 on Wednesday evening inside Tom Gola Arena.
The Patriots used a 11-0 run in the fourth quarter to make it a four-point game, but the Explorers responded with an 8-1 spurt to hold on for the victory (77-65).
Mason drops to 7-14 overall and 1-7 in Atlantic 10 play while La Salle improves to 9-12 overall and 3-5 in the A-10.
Four Patriots finished in double figures with junior Nicole Cardaño-Hillary posting a team-high 18 points. Junior
Marika Korpinen (11) and senior
Jacy Bolton (10) also added double-digit performances.
Freshman
Jazmyn Doster registered her first career double-double with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (12). She added a personal-best eight offensive boards in the loss.
The Patriots shot 27.9 percent (19-68) from the floor and made six three-pointers (.240). For the second straight game, Mason owned the advantage on the glass; +12 in total rebounds (47-35) and +18 in offensive boards (24-6).
The Explorers finished with a 44.0 percent (22-50) mark and made nine three-point field goals (.346). La Salle's Claire Jacobs tied her career-high in points with 29 in the contest.
Mason got off to a slow start, allowing La Salle to lead 13-0 with 5:24 to go in the first quarter. Senior
Sarah Kaminski knocked down a three-pointer for Mason's first points of the game (13-3). La Salle pushed its advantage to 16 after a pair of treys (19-3). The Patriots slowly chipped away at the Explorers' lead thanks to Doster. The freshman forward posted five points (2-2 FG) and five rebounds in the first quarter (24-13).
To begin the second quarter, Mason used an 11-2 spurt over the first four minutes to pull within four (26-22). But, the Patriots then went scoreless for over three minutes as La Salle notched back-to-back three-pointers (36-24). After a technical on La Salle, the Patriots used a five-point turnaround to pull within five with a minute left (36-31). At the half, Mason trailed by seven (38-31).
Out of the break, the Explorers made 5-of-6 from the field to extend its lead to back out to 14. Mason was held scoreless for two minutes while committing three turnovers during the stretch (47-33). Bolton and Cardaño-Hillary scored back-to-back treys to bring the deficit to 13 with one quarter to play (56-43).
In a game of runs, Mason looked to have one more left in them. The Patriots opened the quarter on a blistering 11-0 spurt, highlighted by a pair of fast break layups by Bolton and Cardaño-Hillary (56-52). With Mason on its heels, La Salle responded with an 8-1 run over 1:37 minutes (64-56). The Patriots could not move closer than nine, as the comeback fell just short (77-65).
Mason wraps up its two-game road swing at Rhode Island on Saturday. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. in Kingston, R.I.
