George Mason Women Outlast Rhode Island to Improve to 3-3 in the A-10

By
Daniel Frank
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My name is Daniel Frank and I am brand new to the Giant Killer team! You may know me from my work over at A10Talk.com or from my twitter coverage of George Mason, and the Atlantic 10 Conference as a whole. I am currently a freshman at Mason, majoring in Environmental & Sustainability Studies with a concentration in Conservation. I have been following college basketball my entire life: I was born in September and attended my first game in November. I have been a season ticket holder at George Washington (yes, that other George school) for 20 seasons, and grew up a die-hard Colonials fan. I still carry allegiances to GW, but as shown last night, I am committed to the Mason Patriots (that’s me holding the “F” in #FillEBA). 

I have a strong connection to covering Women’s basketball in particular. My mother played college basketball at the University of Pennsylvania, and much of my coaching experience has come coaching girls basketball, most notably at Falls Church High School. I am very excited to cover the Mason Women, and share my love of A-10 basketball with all of you! 

Image credit: George Mason Athletics

FAIRFAX, VA- Sophmore Nicole Cardaño-Hillary dropped a staggering 32 points along with 3 assists, 2 steals and 2 assists to help lead George Mason (11-8, 3-3) past Rhode Island (7-12, 2-5), 75-69. Though the game may have ended statistically in their favor, that start of the game was as far from ideal as head coach Nyla Milleson could have hoped for.

In the opening minutes of the game, URI jumped to an early 9-5 lead, and shot the ball a blazing 57% from the field, to Mason’s 18%. By the end of the first quarter, Rhody had increased their shooting to 58% to Mason’s 23%. But what kept the Patriots in the game throughout, and especially when their offense was lacking, was their rebounding. After 10 minutes of play, They held a 14-8 advantage on the glass, and would finish the game with a 43-33 advantage.

The second quarter saw George Mason open on an 8-0 run, which garnered an 8-3 Rhode Island run in response. By the Under-5 media timeout, Jacy Bolton and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had combined for 25 of the team’s 29 points.

It was clear from the get-go that Rhode Island’s plan of attack was to clog up the lane, and try to limit the amount of touches of Camarie Gatling and Allie McCool as much as possible. The Rams’ starting center, Nicole Jorgensen had an astonishing 6 blocks, in addition to her team-high 22 points and 11 rebounds. She was a force to be reckoned with in the paint, but as a result, this left the Patriots’ shooters with more opportunities for outside shots.

Coming out of halftime, George Mason jumped to a 10-4 run, capped off by back-to-back steals and fast break layups by Marika Korpinen and Nicole Cardaño-Hillary, prompting a URI timeout. Rhode Island was never fully able to get their offense back in gear after halftime, as they started the fourth quarter 0-5 from the field, and their field goal percentage had dipped to 45%.

But where the game was truly decided was at the line. Rhode Island as a team was 6-16 from the charity stripe, including an eye opening 2-12 in the second half. That’s how you lose a road game, folks. George Mason, on the other hand, shot 27-34 from the line, including 15-17 from Cardaño-Hillary herself alone.

The Patriots were finally able to put the game away down the stretch, aided mightily by some luck from Rhody themself. As the game reached the final three minutes, URI saw two of their starters, Jalissa Ross and Maia Moffitt foul out, and receive a bench technical foul in the span of 25 seconds. This turned a one-point Mason lead into a five-point lead, a lead which would never again shrink below five.

In concluding thoughts, looking at the box score, you simply can’t say enough good things about Nicole Cardaño-Hillary. She was A-10 Rookie of the Year last season, and next game is going to eclipse 1,000 career points. That’s phenomenal.

For George Mason as a whole, it was a 2-0 weekend, and it’s tough to beat that!

The Patriots are back in action Thursday night at Saint Louis at 8PM on ESPN+ with an opporunity to climb to 6th place in the A-10 standings, ahead of a road trip to St. Bonaventure on Sunday night. Mason returns home on Wednesday February 6 against #RevRivalry foe George Washington.

 

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