FAIRFAX, VA- It is not often a team who has a player drop 35 points and 16 rebounds comes up with the short end of the stick when it comes to basketball. That is just what happened Tuesday afternoon, as Jacy Bolton and #7 George Mason fell to #10 UMass 86-80 in 2OT in the First Round of the 2019 Women’s Atlantic 10 Tournament to finish the season 16-14 (8-8).
I have been in a number of press conferences by now. I sat through 8 different press conferences a year ago at the men’s A-10 Tournament in Washington DC which saw team’s season came to an end. None of them even remotely compare to the emotion shown in the press conferences in the media room at EagleBank Arena yesterday, from both Mason and UMass. The raw emotion of a season ending so suddenly, and one miraculously continuing on, is the beauty of March that keeps drawing us in, year after year. The tears in the eyes of Jacy Bolton. The sheer pride in the eyes of Hailey Leidel. And it sucks to be on the losing end of it all.
I have seen a lot of college basketball games in my 20 seasons, but in reflecting back on this game, I’m struggling to recall witnessing a game in which both teams fought so hard, wanted to win so badly, that they simply gave everything they possibly could. Unfortunately for George Mason, the gas tank just seemed to hit empty in the final minutes of the second-overtime. The Minutewomen just had a little bit more in the tank, perhaps thanks to not having to play a road-overtime game just two days prior like Mason did in their regular season finale.
Nyla Milleson didn’t shy away from the idea that fatigue played a role in yesterday’s loss, while also saying “It’s definitely a factor, but everyone in the conference and in the country is tired. Unfortunately, the way the conference made the schedule, we were at noon today instead of 7 like everyone else across the conference is. But that’s the hand we were dealt. We still had a good environment, but not a great environment like we maybe could’ve had at 7:00 tonight. We’re not gonna make any excuses, but I’ll be honest, it’s somewhat frustrating we had to have a noon game today on a Tuesday afternoon for the biggest game of the year when we’ve earned the right to be at home.”
And she’s right. With the exception of Saint Joseph’s-George Washington, who had a 3:00 start ahead of the Saint Joseph’s men’s game against Rhode Island every other hosting team got a 7:00 start, local time. Having a better crowd for an evening start would have given Mason a better home court advantage, where the Patriots average better than 1,000+ people per game. Instead, they got stuck with a noon start and a paid attendance of 259 people. There also weren’t any cheerleaders there at tip-off, just three Masonettes and Green Machine was about half the size of normal. Those types of things matter.
Ironically, both the Saint Joseph’s men and the George Mason men both lost their home games that displaced the women’s A-10 1st Round games. But we all know there was no way that VCU was going to accommodate moving the time of the 7:30 game, knowing that Rams fans were going to comprise nearly a third of the crowd at EBA last night. I also got the impression that VCU also pushed for a noon start for the women so that they could have their shoot-around a full warm-ups like normal, rather than a 3:00 or 4:00 start. It sucks. Everyone, including Milleson agreed it sucks. But she also didn’t allow that to become an excuse for the team losing in double-overtime.
“We just got off to a poor start. I feel like most of the first half we’re just digging, digging, digging trying to get out of the hole that we had created. I thought most of the second half, until coming down the stretch there, we really played good basketball. But for whatever reason, we lost our focus defensively.”
And coach is right. This was a crazy back and forth battle throughout. This game had everything. High-octane offense, lock-down defense. Teams battling through foul trouble, giving everyone the chance to leave their mark on this game. Everyone had their chances. At the end of regulation, UMass leading scorer, Hailey Leidel, who lead her team with 31 points, had a wide open jumper with 7 seconds left that somehow rimmed out. At the other end, Nicole Cardaño-Hillary had a 40-footer rim out as well. At the end of the first overtime, Alexsis Grate hit two free throws to tie the game back at 65-65 with 24 seconds left. The Minutewomen had the ball with the chance to win, but ended up turning the ball over, and Nikki came up with the ball and chucked it in the air to kill the final few seconds to advance to a second overtime.
Early in 2OT, the Patriots mustered a 73-69 lead, before a 19-7 UMass run sealed the Patriots fate. The gas tank just seemed to hit empty, as Mason turned the ball over four times in the span of 2:35 in the second-overtime. Still, George Mason got to within 6 in the final minute with the ball, before Leidel intercepted the inbound pass, and Jacy Bolton was charged with an intentional foul, essentially ending the game.
It’s easy to be frustrated after a loss like this. This was a heart-wrenching loss. Losing back-to-back overtimes games is a tough way for a season to end. But at the same time, no one expected this team to go anywhere. Everyone expected Mason to drop off the face of the earth without Natalie Butler.
When asked about it post-game, Nikki said “At the beginning of the year, nobody thought we’d even get close to this far, not that we had to prove anything to anybody, but we proved it to ourselves that we are capable and we will be capable next year…This game doesn’t define us. It’s been a great season. Great people, you couldn’t ask for more.
Moving forward, it’s hard not to feel optimistic about the future. Nicole Cardaño-Hillary is likely going to win A-10 Player of the Year this season, and by the time she graduates, she’ll easily eclipse 2,000 points, if not more. Jacy Bolton will be a key senior leader next year, and Camarie Gatling, Allie McCool, and Sarah Kaminski are only going to keep getting better. George Mason is going to return 97.696% of their scoring from this season, with Casey Davis and Jewel Triggs combining to average 3.6 points per game. That is not to underestimate the value of those two players, and understate their contribution for team. But as Nyla said herself, “we’ve got a great nucleus coming back.”
As a fan of the program, and someone who has followed A-10 basketball for 20 years now, I have 100% confidence in Nyla Milleson. The atmosphere and environment she has built at George Mason is phenomenal. The passion she has for this team is unmistakable, and she’s built a tremendous team, both on the court as players, and off the court as people.
Fighting through tears post-game, Nyla Milleson shared “I wrote this team a note before the game that this is your 34, or, whatever my age is year for me. This has probably been one of the most enjoyable, fun, caring, loving teams that I’ve ever had the opportunity to coach. This game isn’t going to define us. As disappointed as we are, I don’t want it to be over. I don’t want our two seniors to have to be done. But, we return the bulk of everybody next year. The most important thing is I don’t want this team to ever change as people, I wouldn’t go to battle with anybody else. They laid it on the line today. Everyday they came in and they worked. Everyday they came in, and they were great teammates to each other. And I know our job is to win basketball games, but I also have an obligation when I recruit these kids, these young women, to make sure they are better people, better citizens, better prepared when they leave and there’s not a question that they’ve got that accomplished this year. And I hurt for them today. So, we’ll go in that locker room one last time, and carry on.”
So yes, this one really really stings. This was a winable game for George Mason. But I think that also discredits UMass somewhat too. They played their asses off too, and fought and won yesterday. They found a way to find another gear when Mason I think just ran out of gas.
Like coach said, “This one stings. Unfortunately, it’s going to sting until next November.” But I am very excited for the future. I cannot wait for November, for this team to pick right up where they left off. I think this group next year could really put together something special.
As this season comes to a close, I want to thank several people for helping me make this all possible. I’d like to thank Bryan, David and the entire Giant Killer team. Thank you to Domenic Allegra and Natalie Heavren for assisting me in getting started on the ground level, and helping me finally spell Nikki’s name correctly. Thank you to Jerome Boettcher and the George Mason Athletic Department to giving me access to make this type of coverage possible. Thank you to Nyla Milleson and the entire women’s basketball team for a phenomenal season filled with so many unforgettable moments. And thank you to you, Mason Nation. We will be back next year. Stronger and better than ever.
We’ve used #FillEBA a lot the past few years to really bulk up the crowd at men’s games, and it’s about damn time we did the same for the ladies. Buy season tickets to come to the game. Bring a friend, or ten. Bring the kids, bring the girl scouts, bring the rec basketball team. Bring your aunt and your grandma. Let’s #FillEBA next season for these amazing women. Until next time, thank you Mason Nation.
