With just six games remaining in the regular season, it’s getting to be crunch time. George Mason (12-11, 4-6) will start the front-end of a home-and-home with La Salle (4-21, 1-10).
This will be the 10th all-time meeting between the two teams, with La Salle with the slight 5-4 edge in the series. The Patriots won the most recent meeting, last February 65-55. The two teams will meet for the second time this season, in Philadelphia on March 2 in the regular season finale.
As we wind down the regular season, George Mason finds themselves in an absolute DOGFIGHT for seeding in the upcoming Atlantic 10 Tournament. In women’s basketball, the top-2 teams receive a bye to the quarterfinals, while teams 3-8 host teams 9-14 in a play-in round of games held on campus sites. Let’s take a look at those standings:
- VCU (10-1)
- Fordham (9-3)
- Davidson (8-3)
- Dayton (7-3)
- Saint Louis (7-5)
- Duquesne (6-5)
- UMass (5-6)
- Saint Joseph’s (5-6)
- George Washington (5-6)
- George Mason (4-6)
- Richmond (4-7)
- St. Bonaventure (4-7)
- Rhode Island (2-9)
- La Salle (1-10)
Mason is just a win tonight-away from being in a group of four teams tied at 5-6 in the Atlantic 10, with a seed range from the 7-seed to the 10. Obviously, the goal for the rest of the season is simply to secure that top-8 seed heading into March, and the Patriots got some help last night with Richmond and St. Bonaventure dropping to 4-7. At 4-6, this is must-win territory for the Patriots.
Over the final six games of the season, George Mason will face 4-21 La Salle twice. Those two games, (tonight obviously included) need to be wins. Sunday, the Patriots will host first-place VCU and that is going to be a tough outing. The Following Thursday, Mason will face Richmond, who currently sits just a game behind them in the standings, before wrapping up with fourth-place Dayton at home, a crucial game against Saint Joseph’s (whom Mason hopes to be at least tied with in the standings, if not ahead of by this time) before closing out with La Salle again.
Again, this is a game that Mason should have no trouble winning. The Explorers’ leading scorers average 8.3 and 8.2 points respectively per game. That is very manageable. La Salle’s only four wins on the season came against Norfolk State, Northern Kentucky, Pepperdine and Rhode Island. They do not have a road win this season. If Mason wants to host an A-10 Tournament game, they MUST start by winning tonight.
Tipoff is 7PM from EBA and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
