PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The George Mason women's basketball team hit a program record 18 three-pointers as the Patriots downed Duquesne 101-75.
 
The Patriots (11-3, 2-1) were led on both sides of the court by senior Sonia Smith, who posted the first 30-point performance of her career on a career-high 11 field goals and five three-pointers. She also grabbed a team-high nine rebounds and dished out a game and season-high eight assists. Her performance is just the fourth 30-point performance of the season by an Atlantic 10 player. 
 
Both teams started off hot, scoring a combined 58 points in the opening frame. Ta'Viyanna Habib capped an 11-4 run with the Patriots' third-straight three-pointer to open the quarter before the Dukes (7-7, 2-1) slowly began chipping away. The teams traded points during the middle of the quarter, trading the lead five times. Duquesne hit a three-pointer with 46 seconds remaining to push its' lead to four after the first quarter, shooting 63% from the field.
 
It was all Mason from there, as Smith and Kennedy Harris willed the Patriots to a 19-1 start to open the second quarter. The two combined for 14 of the 19 points as Harris matched her career-high of 15 points through just two quarters as Mason took a 46-32 lead with 3:38 remaining in the half. Mason limited the Dukes to just 13% shooting (2-15 FG, 0-11 3FG) and six points in the second quarter and held a 48-37 lead at the halfway mark.
 
Mason opened the third quarter on a 10-3 run to push the lead to 18 two minutes in. However, Duquesne slowly began chipping away, cutting the lead to just six (63-57) at the 4:29 mark. Mason was not shaken however, as the Patriots were able to stop the comeback there and lead by 10 with one quarter remaining. 
 
The Dukes struck first on a layup to start the quarter, but Smith responded with a three-pointer to match her previous career-high of 24 points. Duquesne cut the lead back to nine and called an early timeout at the 8:42 mark, and from there it was all Patriots. They scored the next 14 points and held Duquesne scoreless over the next five minutes to push the lead to 25. The Mason defense held strong down the stretch to limit the hosts to just 10 fourth-quarter points as the Patriots cruised to the first 100-point game since 2014.
 
PATRIOT POINTS

• Kennedy Harris also had a career-day, posting 23 points on 8-13 shooting, including going 5-9 from beyond the arc. She also dished out a career-high three assists while grabbing a team-best two steals
• Mason's 37 field goals are the most this season, while its' 56.1% from the field and 51.4% shooting from three are the best shooting performances by the team this year
• Ta'Viyanna Habib (14) and Taylor Jameson (10) also tallied double-figure scoring
• The Patriot bench once again shined, doubling up Duquesne's 43-21
• The team's six turnovers were the fewest this season, with no player on the team committing more than one

 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will return home to EagleBank Arena for a midweek matchup with Davidson on Jan. 10. Tip-off with the Wildcats is set for 7 p.m.