George Mason (1-3) vs. Loyola Maryland (2-2)
WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.
WHERE: EagleBank Arena; Fairfax, Va.  
2021-22 RECORDS: Patriots (10-19, 3-12 A-10), Greyhounds (5-24, 5-9 Patriot)  
SERIES RECORD: Mason leads, 9-3  
LAST MEETING: Mason won, 53-51
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ 
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE AUDIO: GoMason Digital Network
GAME NOTES: LINK (PDF)
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team will take the court against Loyola (Md.) on Saturday, looking for their second-straight home win, and second overall.
 
The Patriots picked up their first win of the season on Wednesday night against Charleston Southern, 74-34. It was one of their most dominant victories in five years when they beat Rhode Island by 39 points, 92-53, and the program's first 40+ point margin of victory since Jan. 14, 1996 when the Patriots defeated UNC Wilmington, 81-39.
 
Loyola is looking to extend their win-streak to three when it travels outside of Baltimore for the first time this season. The Greyhounds are sitting on a .500 record with two wins over UMBC and Monmouth.
 
Saturday's game will be the 13th all-time meeting between the Patriots and the Greyhounds, and the fourth-straight year the two teams have met. Mason holds the all-time record of 9-3 against Loyola, including the last three and eight of the last ten. Mason and Loyola have battled the last several matchups, with three of the last four games being decided by less than 10 points.
 
PATRIOT POINTS

• Junior Taylor Jameson is coming off a season-best game, posting season-highs in points (18), rebounds (5), assists (3) and steals (3).
• Senior Sonia Smith also set season-highs in assists (4) and steals (3), adding 11 points as she and Jameson lead the Mason offense with 9.5 and 12.5 points/game, respectively.
• The graduate student duo of Riley Childs and J-Naya Ephraim were also major contributors on Wednesday, as Childs posted her first double-digit scoring performance in the green and gold (10 PTS) and Ephraim set a new career-high in rebounding with the first double-digit performance of her career (11 REB).

SCOUTING THE OPPONENT
Loyola is off to a 2-2 start in 2022, starting off the season by dropping two games by nine points each. The team bounced back with a comfortable victory over UMBC (61-47) and a come-from-behind win over Monmouth (61-59). The Greyhounds are yet to play outside of Baltimore, including their lone away match at neighboring Morgan State on Nov. 10 (L, 50-59).
 
Reigning Patriot League Rookie of the Year Lex Therien picked up where she left off last year, and is averaging a double-double through the first four games with a team-best 18.0 points and 13.3 rebounds per game. She has notched 20 points and 20 rebounds in a game already this season and also leads the Greyhounds with 10 steals.
 
Taleah Dixon is second on the team in scoring, averaging 11.3 points/game so far in 2022. She has also contributed a team-second-best seven assists and five steals while averaging 4.5 rebounds per game. Koi Sims has also been a consistent contributor across the floor, averaging 9.0 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, adding seven assists, three steals and a team-best four blocks.
 
UP NEXT
Mason will conclude their three-game homestand with a quick turnaround against William and Mary on Monday, Nov. 21. Tip-off with the Tribe is set for 7 p.m. at EagleBank Arena.