WHEN: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
WHERE: Ocean Bank Convocation Center, Miami, Fla.  
2020-21 RECORDS: Mason (3-19, 0-14 A-10), Florida International (15-13, 8-8 C-USA)  
SERIES RECORD: Series tied, 1-1  
LAST MEETING: Mason defeated FIU, 67-51, on Dec. 28, 2016 in Miami, Fla.
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FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team will open the 2021-22 season against Florida International on Tuesday night. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Ocean Bank Convocation Center in Miami, Fla. 
 
Tuesday's game will be broadcast nationally on CUSA.TV. In addition, Brian McSweeney will call the game on the GoMason Digital Network, with pre-game coverage beginning at 6:50 p.m.
 
PATRIOT POINTS
* George Mason Vice President/Director of Athletics Brad Edwards named Vanessa Blair-Lewis as the ninth head coach in the history of the Patriot women's basketball program on April 6, 2021. 
 
* Coach Blair-Lewis, who led Bethune-Cookman to its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance in 2019, arrives in Fairfax following a 13-year stint as the head women's basketball coach of the Wildcats. 
 
* The four-time MEAC Coach of the Year, Coach Blair-Lewis led Bethune-Cookman to a 196-168 (.538) overall record and six winning seasons, rebuilding a program that had only had two winning seasons in the 19 seasons prior to her arrival.
 
* Coach Blair-Lewis comes to Fairfax with her coaching staff from Bethune-Cookman: associate head coach/recruiting coordinator Chandler McCabe, associate head coach/director of analytics Niki Washington and assistant coach Demetria Frank. She also reunites with her former B-CU assistant, Andre Bolton, who will serve as special assistant to the head coach. 
 
* Mason returns nine letterwinners including five players who started at least 10 games during the 2020-21 campaign. That group also consists of five players who averaged at least 5.0 points per game: Marika Korpinen (9.3), Jordan Wakefield (6.4), Jazmyn Doster (5.7), Taylor Jameson (5.7) and Rachel Balzer (5.6). 
 
* The Patriots welcome five newcomers to the 2021-22 roster. That group includes four transfers: senior Amaya Scott (Bethune-Cookman), senior J-Naya Ephraim (Illinois), sophomore Angelee Rodriguez (USF) and redshirt sophomore Jayla Adams (Bethune-Cookman). In addition, Spanish native Paula Suarez is Mason's lone true freshman on the 2021-22 roster.
 
* Graduate student Marika Korpinen is back for the Patriots after returning with the extra year of eligibility given by the NCAA due to COVID-19. She has appeared in 113 games for the Green & Gold, and has registered 26 double-digit scoring performances.  
 
* Six-foot-one transfer Amaya Scott appeared in 88 games, making 56 starts, in three seasons at Bethune-Cookman. She was named the 2020-21 MEAC Preseason Player of the Year before B-CU suspended athletics for the academic year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She has recorded 10 career double-doubles, and 40 double-digit scoring performances. 
 
* Mason's 2021-22 roster features junior trio Jazmyn Doster, Jordan Wakefield and Tamia Lawhorne. That group has appeared in a combined 132 games over the past two seasons, making a combined 52 starts. 
 
* Mason will play seven road games in the month of November. The lone home matchup will take place on Sunday, Nov. 14 against No. 24 Virginia Tech. Mason will look for its first road win since the 2019-20 season when the Patriots defeated Saint Joseph's, 54-49, on Feb. 22, 2020.
 
* Mason is 18-30 all-time in season openers, and 4-6 in its last 10 openers. Coach Blair-Lewis will look to become the third Mason women's basketball head coach to earn a victory in their Mason coaching debut.  
 
SERIES HISTORY
The two teams have faced off twice in program history, splitting the series. Both games were played in the 305, where the Patriots lost the first meeting in 2006 (73-59). The Patriots avenged the loss when they took down the Panthers, 67-51, on Dec. 28, 2016.
 
SCOUTING THE PANTHERS
FIU is coming off a successful first season under Coach Burks-Wiley, who earned the second-most wins (15) nationally among first-year head coaches as the Panthers celebrated two postseason victories in the Women's Basketball Invitational. The Panthers were selected to finish seventh in the C-USA Preseason Poll after compiling a mark of 8-8 in league play in 2020-21. 
 
The Blue & Gold will be led by returning seniors Kyla Nelson, Emerald Ekpiteta, Raquel Ferrer-Bernad, and Alma Danielsson. FIU added eight newcomers to the squad, including six transfers and two true freshmen. Among the crop of incoming transfers are graduate student Ariel Colón (Elon), junior Grace Hunter (South Plains College), junior Olivia Trice (Bowling Green State), junior Barbora Tomancová (Minnesota), junior Hope Butera (South Georgia Technical College), and sophomore Maria Torres (Colorado State).
 
UP NEXT
Mason travels to Loyola (Md.) on Friday. Tip-off is scheduled for 11:30 a.m. for Field Trip Day at Reitz Arena in Baltimore, Md.