Tribe Second Half Rally Falls Short As Women's Basketball Loses At George Mason, 81-69

James Leads Tribe With 14 Points

01/09/05 7:32PM

FAIRFAX, VA - George Mason senior guard Lauren Hediger led all scorers with 22 points and the Patriots survived a second half charge from William and Mary to post an 81-69 victory over the Tribe Sunday afternoon at the Patriot Center. George Mason improves to 4-6, 1-2 in the CAA while the College, which had its two game winning streak halted, falls to 3-9, 1-2 in the CAA.

The Patriots opened up the game on a 16-4 run, which was capped off by a made free throw by sophomore forward Tracy Ann Holness at the 11:41 mark. George Mason maintained control throughout the first half and had its biggest lead (20) of the first 20 minutes with seconds remaining, but a made jumper by William & Mary's Mindy Carter (Bristol, TN) at the buzzer put the halftime score at 40-22. It was the first two points of Carter's career.

The Patriots had another scoring spurt in the opening minutes of the second stanza and had its largest lead of 26 at the 17:10 mark after a 9-1 run. But the Tribe, which shot 56.3% (18-32) from the floor in the second half and outscored the Patriots 47-41, responded and cut the deficit to nine after a 19-3 run to put the score at 53-44 with 11 minutes remaining.

W&M pulled within five points at the 1:32 mark after a made jumper by guard Kyle DeHaven (Herndon, VA), but the Patriots made seven out of nine free throws down the stretch to solidify Mason's first conference win of the season.

The Tribe held Jen Daniels to just one field goal on 14 attempts in the game, but she helped Mason with its free throw percentage as she was 15-18 at the line to net a game second-best 17 points, while senior center Julie Flanders collected her third career double-double with 13 points and a game-high 11 rebounds.

Guard Devin James (Pipersville, PA) led the Tribe with 14 points, all in the second half, after shooting 5-7 from the field, while DeHaven dished out a game-high four assists and added 13 points, along with four steals. Guard Lizzie Schiel (Wayne, PA) also scored in double figures for the Tribe as she poured in 12 points and added three assists. Maria Sazonova (Wayne, PA) added nine points, which included her first career three-pointer on her first career attempt. Carter finished with seven points.

The Patriots shot 42 percent (21-50) on the afternoon, while the Tribe garnered a shooting percentage of 47 (27-57). The Patriots went 34-46 at the free throw line, while the Tribe was 10-18 on the afternoon.

W&M is back in action Friday when it hosts Hofstra at 7:00 p.m. at William and Mary Hall.


Box Score