In the 50-year history of women's basketball at George Mason, the program has made the WNIT post season three times: 2001, 2003, and 2018. A combined record of 63 wins and 30 loses, these three teams hold several program and individual records. When looking back at last 50 years, these three teams are key building blocks of the program. 
 
The WNIT bids were even more impressive considering the tournament was a 32-team field during that span, doubling to 64 teams in 2021. The postseason WNIT started in 1998 as a 16-team tournament. 
 
2000-2001
The first WNIT team was led by seniors Tish Wescott and Jen Surlas, and freshmen Susan Otim, Vernessa Neamo, and Jen Derevjanik.
 
After just winning 10 games during the 1999-2000 season, Mason alumna and head coach Debbie Taneyhill led the Patriots to the best one-year turnaround in program history. Mason boasted a 21-9 record, going 11-5 in the CAA conference, eventually losing to James Madison University in the semi-finals of the CAA tournament. They were invited to the 8^th post-season WNIT and played Georgetown in the first round where they lost, 66-56. 
 
Wescott and Surlas were named All-CAA Second Team and Surlas earned a spot on the All-VaSID Second Team. Derevjanik was named CAA Rookie of the Year and to the All-CAA Rookie team.
 
Despite the early loss in the WNIT, it built a foundation of trust and belief in the team: "There was consistency there and a lot of trust that we were really going to make history for the program," Neamo said in an interview in 2017. "Every year after my freshman year, I felt we had a great opportunity to make it to the conference championship and make postseason appearances."
 
2003-2004
Three seasons later, the Patriots were back in the WNIT after winning 18 games and reaching the CAA championship game.

Now seniors, Neamo, Otim, and Derevjanik were joined by junior Laura Kooji in the second WNIT appearance. The team went 18-11 overall and 11-7 in conference. The Patriots lost by four points in the CAA Championship to long-time rival, Old Dominion. They earned a bid to the post-season WNIT tournament, but lost in the first round to Seton Hall, 61-56.
 
Derevjanik was named to the regular season All-CAA First Team, CAA All-Tournament team and the All-VaSID First Team. Neamo joined her on the CAA All-Tournament team and was named to the regular season All-CAA Second team, All-CAA Defensive team and the All-VaSID Second Team.
 
Derevjanik went on to play five years in the Women's National Basketball Association, winning a championship with the Phoenix Mercury, and Neamo played a year in the National Women's Basketball League. 
 
In an interview in 2022, Derevjanik said, "Because of the opportunities George Mason gave me, it helped me play professional basketball. If it wasn't for Debbie [Taneyhill] reaching out to different coaches and trying to get me into their training camps, I don't know that I would have ever been able to have that same opportunity [to play professional basketball]."
 
During her time at George Mason, Coach Taneyhill took two teams to the WNIT tournament, a pride she still feels to this day: "I'm proud of my time [at George Mason]," said Taneyhill. "And I still feel that when I walk in [to the arena] and I look up and I see those two banners there and I'm like, 'yeah, I was a part of that.'"
 
2017-2018
The most successful season in George Mason Women's basketball history was headlined by transfer graduate student Natalie Butler, senior Taylor Dodson, sophomore Jacy Bolton, and freshman Nicole (Nikki) Cardaño-Hillary. The team boasted a 24-10 record, going 11-5 in conference. The Patriots lost in the Atlantic 10 quarterfinals to George Washington, 64-59. However, they received a bid to the WNIT for the third time in program history to extend the season. For the first time, they won a WNIT game, beating Stephen F. Austin 82-75 at home in Fairfax. Atlantic Coast Conference Virginia Tech defeated the Patriots, 78-69, in the second round.
 
"It's so special to know we are the winningest team in program history," said Butler. "And I say that with such pride from a sense of the support that we had from the George Mason community, the Green Machine, the students, other student-athletes. We had such great support from so many different people around us. [The season] really wasn't just a team win, it was a university win. I feel very fortunate to be a part of a team that was able to make history during that season."
 
The team set a program record for most assists in a season (500), most free throws in a season (489), and most wins in a season (24). Cardaño-Hillary was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, the VaSID Rookie of the Year, to the All-Atlantic 10 Third Team, the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team and All-VaSID Second Team. Butler was named the Atlantic 10 Player of the Year and the VaSID Player of the year while also being named to the All-Atlantic 10 First team, the Atlantic 10 All-Defensive Team and the All-VaSID First Team. She was also named to the Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American team, standing as the only Patriot to earn an All-American honor in program history. Butler also set a program single season scoring record (653), an NCAA D1 single season rebounding record (563), led the country in rebounding (16.6 rpg) and double-doubles (33), and tied the NCAA D1 record for most consecutive double-doubles (33).
 
About her records, Butler said, "To score the basketball as a center, you need people who will give you the ball. So without my teammates making great assists, looking inside […] they made scoring easy. I really think that was a huge contribution to have teammates looking for you."
 
Much like these teams, the 2023-24 season has had a historic start. The team is 8-1 after a program best 7-0 start. 
 
Butler's advice to the team is "it's so easy to get caught up in winning streaks, but you've got to keep working and keep your nose to the grindstone. When you win a game, celebrate what you have and then the next day show up to practice. When you cross that baseline, focus up, let's get better as a team, let's get better individually. And I definitely think they are very. Much on track for that. They should be very proud of what they've accomplished so far, but, you know, keep going! Don't be satisfied, keep the momentum going."
 
On January 28^th at 3 p.m. in Eagle Bank Arena, the women's basketball alumni are all encouraged to come back for the homecoming game against VCU to check out this team as they try to break some records of their own! There will be a pregame celebration luncheon for women's basketball alumni and a halftime on court ceremony to recognize the players who helped build the Patriots basketball program during the last 50 years.