George Mason (15-14, 8-8 A-10) vs. La Salle (17-13, 8-7 A-10)
WHEN: Thursday, 11 a.m.
WHERE: CHASE Fieldhouse; Wilmington, Del.
SERIES RECORD: La Salle leads, 11-5  
LAST MEETING: La Salle won, 69-62
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+ 
LIVE STATS: LINK 
LIVE AUDIO: GoMason Digital Network
GAME NOTES: LINK (PDF)
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – The ninth-seeded George Mason women's basketball team is set to open the 2023 Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Tournament with a second-round game against the eighth-seeded La Salle Explorers on Thursday at 11 a.m.
 
Mason is playing to advance to just their third Quarterfinal game since joining the Atlantic 10 conference in 2013-14. The Patriots also appeared in the quarterfinals in 2015-16 as the ninth-seed and in 2017-18 as the fourth-seed. 
 
The Patriots are also looking to avenge an early season loss to the Explorers in Philadelphia on Jan. 11. Despite a furious fourth-quarter push by Mason, they could not overcome a 16-point deficit to begin the final stanza, ultimately falling 69-62.
 
The Explorers dropped two of their last three, but pulled out a gritty 55-51 win against VCU on Saturday to end their regular season on a high note. On the other hand, Mason is on a hot streak, entering the Atlantic 10 Tournament on a three-game win streak. 
 
PATRIOT POINTS

• Mason ended the season winning three of their last four home games to push their home win total to 11, the most wins in EagleBank Arena since the 2017-18 team went 17-2 in Fairfax
• The Patriots ended the regular season with the fourth-best scoring defense in the A-10, allowing 61.9 points per game
• As one of the top rebounding teams in the conference, Mason ranks fourth in rebounding margin (+2.9) and offensive rebounds (13.6)
• Junior Taylor Jameson finished the regular season averaging a team-best 11.8 points/game, good for 22^nd in the Atlantic 10
• Senior Nalani Kaysia averages a team-high 8.2 rebounds/game, the most by a Patriot since Jacy Bolton averaged 9.1 in 2018-19. Kaysia's 33 blocks are also the most since Bolton's 35 in the same year
• On Tuesday, Kaysia earned Atlantic 10 All-Rookie Team honors, voted on by the league's coaches
• Sophomore Paula Suárez has tallied 90 assists this season for an average of 3.1/game (15^th, A-10). She also has the 12^th best assist/turnover ratio in the conference at 1.2

 
SCOUTING THE EXPLORERS
Two Explorers are averaging over 12 points/game, Claire Jacobs (12.6) and Kayla Spruill (12.2) as they both rank in the top-20 in the conference in scoring. Spruill is the teams' most efficient shooter at .457 (18th, A-10), the top three-point shooter with 52 makes at a .374 efficiency (10th, A-10) and is second on the team with 4.9 rebounds/game.
 
Molly Masciantonio leads the team with 4.5 assists (7^th, A-10) and 2.1 steals (5^th, A-10) per game in a team-high 29.1 minutes per contest. Under the net, Mia Jacobs leads the Explorers in rebounds with 5.4 boards per contest. Jacobs is also averaging 9.4 points per game, good for third on the team.
 
As a team, La Salle ranks second in the Atlantic 10 in steals, averaging 9.23 per game. The Explorers are ranked third in the conference in opponent three-point percentage at 28.4% and fifth in opponent field goal percentage, holding the opposition to 38.6%.
 
UP NEXT
The winner of Thursday's second round game will take on No. 1-seeded Massachusetts on Friday, March 3, at 11 a.m. in the first Quarterfinal at CHASE Fieldhouse. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.