George Mason (21-8, 16-2 A-10) vs. Dayton (17-13, 9-9 A-10)
WHEN: Friday, March 6, at 5 p.m ET
WHERE: Henrico Entertainment & Sports Arena; Henrico, Va.
LIVE VIDEO: USA Network
LIVE STATS: LINK
LIVE AUDIO: GoMason Digital Network
A-10 TOURNAMENT CENTRAL: LINK
HENRICO, Va. - The #2 George Mason women's basketball team will take on the #7 Dayton Flyers on Friday, March 6 in the Quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament. The game will be broadcast on USA Network with tip-off set for 5 p.m ET. Tommy Buckles and Mackenzie Banks will be on the GoMason Digital Network starting at approximately 4:45 p.m. ET.
This is the 18th matchup between the Patriots and Flyers. George Mason won both matchups this year, but Dayton holds the overall series lead, 9-8.
SCOUTING THE FLYERS
Dayton enters the matchup with a 17–13 overall record and a 9–9 mark in Atlantic 10 play. As a team, the Flyers average 66.4 points per game while allowing 66.9 points per contest. Dayton is shooting .437 from the field, .308 from three-point range, and .667 from the free throw line. The Flyers average 38.4 rebounds per game with 366 offensive rebounds and 787 defensive rebounds for 1,153 total boards. Dayton also records 11.2 assists per game with 336 total assists, along with 205 steals and 110 blocks through 30 games.
Nayo Lear leads Dayton in scoring with 14.1 points per game, totaling 408 points while shooting .466 from the field across 29 games. Nicole Stephens averages 10.9 points per game with 304 total points and leads the team with 103 assists. Olivia Leung adds 8.7 points per game and has made a team-high 40 three-pointers. Ajok Madol contributes 7.6 points per game with 163 total rebounds, while Molly O'Riordan averages 6.9 points per game and has recorded 168 rebounds and 31 blocks. Fatima Ibrahim also averages 6.9 points per game and leads the team with 187 rebounds and 55 blocks.
Additional contributors include Maliyah Johnson (4.0 ppg), Jayda Johnson (3.5 ppg), Shantavia Dawkins (3.3 ppg), and M.G. Talle (3.2 ppg). As a team, the Flyers average 5.5 made three-pointers per game and 12.4 made free throws per game. Dayton holds a +5.0 rebounding margin over opponents, while opponents average 12.8 assists and 8.6 steals per game compared to Dayton's 11.2 assists and 6.8 steals. In conference games only, Dayton averages 65.6 points per game and 38.7 rebounds per contest while shooting .428 from the field and .307 from three-point range.
PATRIOT POINTS
- The Patriots secured a piece of the 2026 Regular Season Championship - the program's first regular season championship ever in any conference
- George Mason finish the 2025-26 regular season with the most conference wins in program history (16)
- Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris were named to the All-Conference First Team. Only two other set of Patriots have been name to their conference's first team in the same season: Jen Surlas & Trish Halpin (1999) and Marcell Harrison & Nickie Hilton (1993). Walton is also the first Patriot to win back-to-back First Team honors since Surlas in '99 and '00.
- Hawa Komara and Mary Amoateng were named to the All-Defensive Team. Amoateng joins Nicole Cardaño-Hillary as the only George Mason players to make the A-10 All-Defensive Team as freshmen.
- Amoateng was also named to the All-Rookie Team. She becomes just the 6th Patriot to be named to the All-Rookie Team in the program's A-10 era
- Junior Kennedy Harris eclipsed the 1,000 career point mark last Saturday vs. Duquesne. She joins teammate Zahirah Walton and 21 other Patriots in the program's 1K point club
- Head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis is the longest tenured Black female head coach in D1 (27 years)
- Zahirah Walton was named to the 2026 Becky Hammon Player of the Year Midseason Watch List
- Head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis won her 400th career game on January 4, 2026 vs. VCU, 68-58
- The Patriots won the Atlantic 10 championship for the first time in program history in 2024-25, giving them their first NCAA Tournament berth
- The Patriots were picked to finish second in the A-10 Preseason Poll
WITH A WIN...
The Patriots with face the winner of Richmond and either Saint Louis or La Salle depending outcomes of their games. That game will be played at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 on the CBS Sports Network.
