FAIRFAX, Va. – Led by its' seniors, the George Mason women's basketball team beat the top team in the Atlantic 10 on Saturday, downing Richmond in overtime, 82-76.
Taylor Jameson had a career day, scoring a season-high 19 points, including a career-high 10 free throws on 10 attempts. She also surpassed the 1,000-point mark for her career while also etching her name into the top-10 all-time in program history for three-point makes with her first trey of the night.
Sonia Smith paced the offense with a game-high 23 points.
Smith kicked off the scoring with a second-chance three-pointer just a minute into the game before the Spiders (24-5, 14-2) responded with eight of the next 10 to take a three-point lead. The teams traded three-pointers over the next minute and a half until
Kennedy Harris hit one of her own to tie the game at 11. It was more back-and-forth, but two free throws by Jameson gave the Patriots (22-5, 13-3) the 17-16 lead at the break.
After Richmond opened the second quarter with another three-pointer,
Zahirah Walton scored the next five points to give Mason a three-point lead. Over the next six minutes, the teams traded the lead three times until Richmond led by one with 2:15 remaining after two free throw makes. It was all Patriots to close the half however, as Smith and Jameson combined for the final seven points to give Mason a 37-31 lead at the half.
Mason held on to a solid six-point lead through the first four minutes of the third quarter, until a successful Richmond and-one and two made free throws cut the lead to just one. Relying on free throws over the next four minutes, the Spiders found themselves back in the lead (48-47) with 1:30 remaining. The Patriots responded again however, scoring the closing seven points, capped by a Walton offensive rebound and putback at the buzzer to lead by six with one quarter remaining.
Walton opened the fourth with an emphatic steal and fastbreak basket to give Mason its' largest lead of the night, 56-48. Over the next three minutes, the Spiders once again battled back to cut the lead to just one at the media timeout. The teams traded fouls and free throws down the stretch until the 1:52 mark when Richmond once again trailed by one. The visitors forced a Mason turnover on a shot clock violation and turned it into a three-pointer on the other end to take a two-point lead with just over a minute remaining. Smith drained two free throws to tie it up at 68-all, and the Mason defense turned away four Richmond scoring opportunities in the final 37 seconds to force overtime.
It was all Mason in the overtime period as it scored eight of the opening 10 points, led by back-to-back three-pointers from
Ta'Viyanna Habib, to take a 76-70 lead with one minute remaining. Richmond hit two three-pointers of their own down the stretch, but Jameson hit all six free throw opportunities in response to lead the Patriots to the 82-76 Senior Day victory.
PATRIOT POINTS
- Four Patriots scored in double-figures, led by Sonia Smith's 23. Taylor Jameson (19), Zahirah Walton (18) and Ta'Viyanna Habib (13) also notched double-figure performances
- Walton had a stellar day across the court, also grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds for her fourth double-double of the season. She also tallied two blocks and two steals
- Pacing the offence was Paula Suárez, who disher out a team-high four assists to go with two points, two rebounds, a block and a career-high matching four steals
- Jazmyn Doster pulled down three rebounds, giving her 662 for her career to place the graduate student in ninth all-time in program history
- The Patriots won the turnover battle, 9-18, leading to 23 points off of turnovers
- Mason also outrebounded Richmond 42-36. The Patriots' 19 offensive rebounds led to 23 second-chance points
- The 82 points are the most against Richmond since Mason entered the Atlantic 10 in 2014
UP NEXT
The Patriots will play their final game of the season in EagleBank on Wednesday, Feb. 28. Mason will welcome Dayton to EBA for a 7 p.m. tip as it looks to sweep the Flyers in the season series.
