George Mason (21-5, 12-3) vs. Richmond (24-4, 14-1)
WHEN: Saturday, 3 p.m.
WHERE: Fairfax, Va.
2022-23 RECORDS: Patriots (16-15, 8-8 A-10), Spiders (2-26, 3-13 A-10)
SERIES RECORD: Richmond leads 40-25
LAST MEETING: Richmond defeated Mason, 73-58, in Richmond on Jan. 21, 2023
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE AUDIO: GoMason Digital Network
GAME NOTES: LINK
 
FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team returns to Fairfax this weekend to welcome the Richmond Spiders to EagleBank for Senior Day.
 
The long-time in-state rivals will meet for the 66th time in program history on Saturday as Mason looks to chip away at Richmond's 40-25 all-time lead. The Patriots have not beaten the Spiders since 2019 as Richmond rides a five-game win streak in the series.
 
Richmond enters Saturday's game riding a seven-game win-streak, and the last time out, downed La Salle 74-54. Mason is also coming off a win, downing St. Bonaventure 57-73 in a defensive battle.
 
PATRIOT POINTS

• On Monday, Kennedy Harris was named the Atlantic 10 Co- Rookie of the Week for the fourth time this season after averaging 9.5 points and 3.5 rebounds in a 1-1 week for Mason
• Sonia Smith leads the team with 14.5 points per game (8th, A-10) and is eighth in the Atlantic 10 with 15.2 points per game against league opponents. She also leads the team with 3.1 assists per game (11th, A-10) 
• Paula Suarez leads the team with 3.1 assists per game (11th, A-10) while Zahirah Walton leads the team with 5.6 rebounds, 35 steals and 25 blocks
• The Patriots lead the A-10 with 40.3 boards per game (49th nationally), a 5.31 turnover margin (14th nationally) and a 14-point scoring margin (31st nationally) and are second in 3-point defense, at 27.2% (27th nationally), 9.2 steals per game and 14.6 offensive rebounds (23rd nationally)
• Mason boasts one of the top benches in the country, at fourth nationally with 31.1 bench points per game. Walton leads the way with a team-second-best 10.9 points per game.

 
SCOUTING THE SPIDERS
Richmond stands alone at the top of the Atlantic 10 with a 14-1 record in conference play to go with a 24-4 overall record. The Spiders are riding a seven-game win streak entering Saturday's game, with their last and only Atlantic 10 loss coming exactly a month ago at the hands of Duquesne.
 
Four Spiders average over 11.0 points per game in a well-powered, high-scoring offense. Led by Maggie Doogan with 15.2 points per game (5th, A-10), Grace Townsend (13.0) and Rachel Ullstrom (12.1) all rank in the top-20 of the conference in scoring. Doogan also leads the Spiders in rebounding with 5.4 boards per game (20th, A-10) while Townsend leads the team with 4.9 assists per game (2nd, A-10).
 
Addie Budnik averages 11.4 points per game and joins Ullstrom as the two Spiders with over 50 three-point makes on the season. Sitting in the top-10 of the conference in three-point percentage, Ullstrom hits 43.7% of her attempts (4th, A-10) and Budnik hits 40.2% (7th, A-10). Defensively, Townsend has registered 42 steals and Budnik has tallied a conference-best 71 blocks.
 
As a team, Richmond leads the Atlantic 10 with 73.4 points per game and is third with a 13.0-point scoring margin. The Spiders also lead the conference in shooting percentage at .472, three-point shooting percentage at .382 and three-point makes per game with 9.1. 
 
UP NEXT
The Patriots will remain in Fairfax for their final regular season home game of 2024 when they welcome Dayton to EagleBank Arena. Tip-off with the Flyers is set for 7 p.m.