George Mason (0-1) vs. James Madison (1-0)
WHEN: Thursday, November 6, at 7 p.m. ET
WHERE: Atlantic Union Bank Center; Harrisonburg, Va.
2024-25 RECORDS: Patriots (27-6, 14-4 A-10), JMU (30-6, 18-0)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN+
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE AUDIO: GoMason Digital Network
GAME NOTES: LINK
HARRISONBURG, Va. - The Patriots are headed to Harrisonburg to take on the James Madison Dukes on Thursday, November 6 at 7 p.m. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+ with tip-off set for 7 p.m ET with Missy Buck and Curt Dudley on the call. Tommy Buckles will be on the GoMason Digital Network starting at approximately 6:45 p.m. ET.
The Patriots and Dukes are facing off for their 76th match up. Their first match up was in January of 1981, where the Patriots took the game, 73-66. Since then, the Dukes have dominated the match up, leading the series 55-20, including winning the last 20 games.
SCOUTING THE DUKES
James Madison finished the 2024–25 season with a 30–6 overall record and an 18–0 mark in Sun Belt Conference play, earning the No. 1 seed in the Sun Belt Tournament. The Dukes advanced to the championship game but fell to Arkansas State, 86–79. They received a bid to the WNIT, where they defeated Davidson and Marquette before falling to Belmont in the quarterfinals.
This year, the Dukes are off to a 1-0 start after routing Kent State 80-48 on Monday. Redshirt senior Peyton McDaniel led the team with 29 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the floor, along with 8 rebounds and 2 steals. Redshirt junior Brianna McLeod cleaned up on the boards, finishing with 11 total rebounds to go along with her 4 steals and 2 assists. Zakiya Stephenson, Bree Robinson, and Angela Williams all finished with double-digit points as the Dukes opened their season with a win.
PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots won the Atlantic 10 championship for the first time in program history in 2024-25, giving them their first NCAA Tournament berth
- Three Patriots were named to the 2025-26 A-10 Preseason teams: Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris were named to the Preseason First Team and Hawa Komara was named to the Preseason Second Team. Walton and Komara were also named to the Preseason All-Defensive Team.
- The Patriots were picked to finish second in the A-10 Preseason Poll
- Head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis was named to the Kathy Delaney-Smith Coach of the Year Watch List for the third year in a row
- Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris were named to the Becky Hammon Player of the Year Watch List for the 2025-26 season
- Redshirt juniors Page Greenburg and Zahirah Walton and junior Kennedy Harris were named team captains for the 2025-26 season
- Two transfer graduate students joined the Patriots this season: MJ Johnson (Texas A&M/Ball St.) and Hawa Komara (Rhode Island)
- There are six freshman making their collegiate debutes with the Green & Gold this season: Sanyiah Littlejohn (Philadephia, Pa./Lansdale Catholic), Kayla Johnson (Upper Marlboro, Md./Elizabeth Seton), Mary Amoateng (Baltimore, Md./Bishop McNamara), Matilde Motta (Saronno, Italy/S.M. Legnani), Leah Keyes (Stafford, Va./Virginia Academy), and Sara Blair (Ft. Lauderdale, Fla./St. Thomas Aquinas).
- The George Mason coaching staff added a few new pieces and promoted a two key staff members this off season. Demetria Frank was promoted to Associate Head Coach and Nigel Bowden was promoted to Director of Basketball Operations. Lauren Stack and Kate McCarney joined as graduate assistants, and Brandon Stewart was appointed Director of Player Personnel.
UP NEXT
The Patriots return to Fairfax for their home opener on Monday, November 10 vs. Florida A&M. Tip off is set for 7 p.m. and will be live streamed on ESPN+.
