Riding a three-game winning streak, George Mason (11-8, 3-3) will travel to face Saint Louis (8-12, 3-4).
This game marks just the 8th all-time meeting between these two schools, and the Billikens lead the series 4-3. The Mason Women took the only meeting a year ago in an 81-72 victory in Fairfax.
Breaking Down Saint Louis
The Billikens have won two of their last three games, but dropped their most recent contest, a 57-47 decision at 1st place VCU.
Players to Watch:
Ciaja Harbison may only be a freshman, but she leads her team in scoring, averaging 15.0 points per game. She also leads the team in free throw percentage, though she only shoots at 83% a clip.
Jordyn Frantz is second on the Billikens in scoring, averaging 13.3 points per game. In addition, she is by far the leading three point shooter on the team, 34 makes ahead of her closest teammate. That said, she only shoots 34.7% from from deep, so she’s not to most efficient scorer.
Brooke Flowers is also one to keep an eye on, chipping in 8.0 points per game as well as 7.3 rebounds per game.
Saint Louis is just 1-2 overall against Mason’s last three opponents, including a 68-56 loss to Rhode Island at home (Mason’s most recent opponent).
Breaking Down George Mason
The Patriots enter on a three-game winning streak, and seem to finally be finding their stride. Nicole Cardoño-Hillary leads the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 20.6 points per game, and sits just four-points shy of 1,000 career points. A reminder- she is only a Sophomore!!!
Jacy Bolton is leading the A-10 in rebounds per game, averaging 8.9 boards for the whole season, and 10.7 in conference play.
Mason’s depth has also come into play recently, as Nyla Milleson now seems content to run a 9-player rotation, which gives the Patriots a significant advantage down the stretch of games. With a win tonight, the Patriots would move into a tie for 6th place in the A-10, along with Fordham at 4-3. A top-2 seed looks out of reach at this point (and as such, as bye directly to Pittsburgh), but recent history in the A-10 Tournament (especially under this new format) has shown that seeding significantly matters.
The Patriots just want to keep helping themselves, and a road win tonight will go a long way towards that cause. Including tonight, three of their next four games will be on the road. This will be a challenging stretch, and we are going to learn a lot about this team in the next two weeks. It all starts tonight with a W.
Tipoff from Chaifetz Arena in Saint Louis, MO is 8PM on ESPN+.
My Prediction: A close one throughout, but I think Mason finds a way to get the “W“.
