Coming off a very solid home win on Valentine’s Day, George Mason (13-11, 5-6) will arguably face their toughest test of the season when first-place VCU (19-6, 11-1) pays a visit to Fairfax.
This game marks the 63rd all-time meeting between the Patriots and the Rams, with Mason holding a 32-30 advantage in the overall series. In their last meeting a year ago, GMU defeated VCU in Richmond 65-42, behind 19 points from Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and 12 from Sarah Kaminski.
Breaking Down VCU
Ironically, the Rams’ only loss during A-10 play came at the hands of George Washington, a team that George Mason has swept this season, and who also enters today at 5-6, in a four-way tie for 7th place. Along with GW, VCU’s only other loses of the season have come to North Carolina, IUPUI, Cincinnati, Old Dominion and Radford. The Rams enter having won six straight games and 13 of their last 14. That is a phenomenal stretch, any way you draw it up.
This is a very deep VCU team. There are nine separate players averaging at least 14 minutes per game, with four of those averaging greater than 20 minutes played. As a team, the Rams average 60.6 points per game, and shoot 41.2% from the field and 30.8% from three. That said, VCU only shoots 69% from the line, and averages a surprising 15.7 turnovers per game. Despite forcing 7.3 steals, they have an average turnover margin of +/- 0.
They enter riding high, after a shot from Kseniya Malashka went in with just 4.6 seconds left to beat Dayton Thursday night:
Malashka called game.#LetsGoVCU #ThisIsRamNation pic.twitter.com/lwQwl8XppE
— VCU Women's Hoops (@VCU_WBB) February 15, 2019
Players to Watch
Tera Reed- she leads the Rams in scoring, averaging 12.7 points per game, and is the only VCU player averaging double-figures. In addition, she averages 3.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 1.3 steals per game. Reed leads the team in minutes with 28.5 per game, and leads in three-point shooting, at 40%.
Danielle Hammond- leads the Atlantic 10 in field goal percentage, shooting a blazing 62.1% from the field. She averages 8.4 points per game, as well 3.8 rebounds.
Overall, this is a very balanced VCU team, and one that runs 9 players deep which could pose a lot of trouble for the Patriots today.
Breaking Down George Mason
Let’s face it: the middle of the A-10 standings is a jumbled-mess:
Updated #A10WBB Standings:
11-1 VCU
10-3 Fordham
–
9-3 Davidson
7-4 Dayton
7-5 Saint Louis
6-5 Duquesne
5-6 George Mason
5-6 Saint Joseph's
–
5-6 George Washington
5-7 UMass
4-7 Richmond
4-8 St. Bonaventure
2-9 Rhode Island
1-11 La Salle— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) February 17, 2019
George Mason enters Sunday in a three-way tie for 7th place, with the advantage of a better overall record than Saint Joseph’s and George Washington, as well as a head-to-head win over the Colonials (Mason hosts the Hawks on Senior Day on February 27th). They got some help from Fordham after they beat St. Bonaventure, dropping the Bonnies to 4-8. Davidson also beat UMass, which drops the Minutewomen to 5-7. The Patriots are in the drivers seat currently to secure a top-8 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament.
With a loss today, Mason would likely retain 8th place, as GW travels to Dayton, a game which will likely see the Flyers emerge victorious. Saint Joseph’s travels to last place La Salle, which should be an interesting matchup. All-in-all, a loss to first-place VCU would not exactly be the most shocking result of the season, but it would hurt the cause a little.
We are entering a critical stretch of the season with just five games remaining on the calendar. After today, Mason will travel to face 10th place Richmond, before hosting 4th place Dayton, followed by that crucial matchup with Saint Joseph’s before wrapping up the season with another date with La Salle, whom the Patriots just handled 59-42 in their last time out. Nothing is easy this time of year, and today obviously proves that. A win today would be the signature win of the season. A loss today would make the remaining stretch that much more tense. Should be a great one!
Tipoff from EBA is 2:00, and will be televised on ESPN+. Hope to see you there!
