WILMINGTON, Del. — The George Mason women's basketball team stunned No. 11 Saint Louis, 65-50, in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championships on Wednesday evening inside the CHASE Fieldhouse in Wilmington, Del.
Mason advances to the second round and will face sixth-seeded Fordham at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
The Patriots earned their first A-10 Championship win since 2018, and the first of the Coach Blair-Lewis era. Mason is the first No. 14 seed to upset its opponent in the A-10 Championships, dating back to the league expansion in 2015.
Junior Tamia Lawhorne led the Patriots with a career-high 24 points. She made a career-best six three-pointers to go along with five rebounds. Her six three-pointers are the second-most made in a single game in A-10 Championship history.
Junior Jazmyn Doster ignited in the second half, finishing with 14 points (7-11 FG) and a team-high seven rebounds. Senior Amaya Scott was the third Patriot in double figures with 11 points to go along with six rebounds and three assists.
Freshman Paula Suarez and redshirt sophomore Jayla Adams provided poise at the point position for the Patriots. Suarez posted six points and four rebounds while Adams added five points and four rebounds.
Mason shot an efficient 42.4 percent from the field (25-59) and made seven three-pointers (.333). The Patriots outscored the Billikens 39-24 in a dominant second half of play.
Defensively, Mason held Saint Louis to just 28.8 percent from the floor (17-59) and 13.0 percent from deep (3-23). Mason was +5 in rebounding (41-36) and scored 19 points off SLU's 13 turnovers.
It was all Scott for the Patriots to begin the game. She scored Mason's first four points then assisted the next two baskets as Mason led by four at the media timeout (8-4). SLU went on an 8-0 run to reclaim the lead at the end of the first quarter (12-8).
Mason cut its deficit to two after baskets by Lawhorne and Adams (15-13). The Billikens took a seven-point lead (22-15) before Lawhorne sunk her second three-pointer of the quarter (24-18). The three-pointer sparked an 11-4 scoring run for the Patriots to tie the game at the break (26-26).
Lawhorne scored Mason's first five points of the third quarter, followed by a Suarez basket to force a SLU timeout (33-29). Doster then came alive, scoring six straight points for a five-point Mason advantage with four minutes remaining (39-34). Doster exploded for eight points in the quarter (4-4 FG) as Mason led by eight with 10 minutes to go (44-36).
Lawhorne made back-to-back three-pointers to extend Mason's advantage to 14 with 8:31 on the clock (50-36). Doster then hit two straight buckets, followed by a Scott free throw to give Mason its largest lead of the game (59-42). Lawhorne knocked down her sixth three-pointer of the day with 1:43 on the clock as Mason cruised to a 65-50 first round victory.
Up next, Mason will face sixth-seeded Fordham at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday.
