KINGSTON, R.I. – The George Mason women's basketball team fell 70-68 to preseason Atlantic 10 favorite Rhode Island in a back-and-forth battle on Tuesday night in the Ryan Center.
 
The Patriots (10-3, 1-1) were led offensively by Sonia Smith, who posted her third 20-point game of the season to go with four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
 
Mason jumped out to an early lead behind four makes from beyond the arc in the opening 10 minutes. Four different Patriots tallied one each and five players scored three or more points as they held a 17-9 lead after the first quarter.
 
The Rams (10-5, 2-0) slowly began chipping away in the second quarter with strong shooting across the board. They hit 8 of 15 shots, including three treys, in a game-high 25-point quarter. Ta'Viyanna Habib hit a free throw with a minute remaining to tie the game at 32, but Rhode Island took back the lead with two makes from the charity stripe to lead 34-32 at the half.
 
The two teams traded points to open the second half as Smith scored six of the Patriots opening 12 points to push Mason's lead back to four at the media timeout. Mason and Rhode Island traded fouls and free throws down the stretch, both going 5-6 in the quarter, as the Patriots took a two-point lead into the final stanza.
 
In another back-and-forth quarter, the teams traded the lead seven times. Down two, Mason called timeout and Taylor Jameson check in and sparked a 7-0 run, scoring five fast-break points as the Patriots led by five and Rhode Island called a timeout of their own. The hosts responded with a five-point run of their own to tie the game back at 58-all.
 
The Rams led by four with 1:22 remaining, but Mason cut the lead in half on a jumper from Smith. On the next defensive possession, Jazmyn Doster pulled down a defensive rebound in pressure and drew a foul en route to two made free throws. Rhode Island then drew a foul and hit two free throws of their own and Mason was unable to get a shot off in the final seconds as the Rams won 70-68.
 
PATRIOT POINTS

• Off the bench, Zahirah Walton tallied a team-high seven rebounds, two steals and two blocks to go with 15 points
• Mason out-rebounded Rhode Island 38-31 as Nekhu Mitchell also grabbed a team-high seven 
• Smith's 20 points came from a season-high nine made baskets as she has had three 20-point games in the last seven
• The teams shot almost identically, with both shooting 43% from the field. The difference came from one more three-pointer and one more free throw by URI

 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will remain on the road and take another trip north to battle Duquesne on Sunday, Jan. 7. Tip-off with the A-10 Preseason Top-5 team is set for noon inside UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse.