After defeating Revolutionary Rival George Washington on Sunday, George Mason (7-7, 1-0) travels to Dayton, OH to take on Dayton (8-7, 1-0) on Wednesday night.
The last game I covered in-person was George Mason’s 64-51 loss to Bucknell, which at the time, was their fourth consecutive loss. In the post-game press conference, I asked Nyla Milleson, “Where do you turn to for offense right now?”
Milleson responded, “that’s a good question,” before pausing. After giving a lengthy response to my question, Nyla smiled and added thoughtfully, “Good question. Ask me in a couple of weeks, and hopefully I’ll have some answers.”
Now, a month later Nyla’s answer has become clear: two players in particular have stepped up tremendously- one you’d expect and one you might not as much.
In the last two games, Junior guard Nicole Cardaño-Hillary has averaged 21.5 points per game, along with four assists and eight rebounds to give Mason’s offense the consistency it has been desperately been searching for.
Speaking of which, last game Nicole moved into seventh place in scoring at Mason, a mark she surpassed in the third quarter on a made three that gave her 1,462 points (she finished the game with 1,469 points). Nikki now sits 30 points back of tying sixth place and the career mark of 1,499 points set by Marcell Harrison from 1990-1994. Reminder, she is still just a junior.
Not to be outdone, Freshman Tamia Lawhorne has taken tremendous steps forward in recent weeks, and in the past two games alone, she has averaged 20 points, five rebounds and two steals. In the Patriots’ game at SMU on New Years Eve, Tamia exploded out of the gates, scoring Mason’s first seven points of the ballgame, and 11 in the first half alone. In Mason’s most recent outing against GW, Tamia went off for 15 points in the third quarter during the Patriots’ 24-11 run. Her increased presence was all the more important against George Washington as Camarie Gatling, Alexsis Grate and Devyn Wilson were all missing from the George Mason lineup.
Scouting Dayton
In my A-10 Women’s Basketball Conference Preview, Power Rankings & Bracketology article, I ranked Dayton 5th out of 14 teams in the Atlantic 10.
Here’s my write-up on the Flyers:
Dayton takes the #5 spot partially because they are arguably the most battle-tested team in the Atlantic 10. The Flyers have faced #1 UConn AND #4 South Carolina this season, as well as Gonzaga, Auburn, Wake Forest, Central Michigan and Buffalo. Granted, Dayton went 0-7 in those games, but that’s all the loses they have. In other words, Dayton beat everyone they were supposed to beat. If you take out the UConn and South Carolina games, Dayton played everyone else just about even, taking both Auburn and CMU to OT.
I place the Flyers here, partially as a vote of confidence, because I know how dangerous Dayton can become in conference play. They have not reached their full potential yet, and they have yet to play their best basketball yet: that’s not a bad thing. That said, they closed out non-conference play with two impressive showings, against both East Carolina and Coppin State. The ceiling for this team is very high, I’m very curious to see how Dayton fares in A-10 play, especially given Dayton has played in the NCAA Tournament eight of the last 10 years.
In their Atlantic 10 opener, Dayton dominated La Salle, winning with ease 98-58 on the road. Five different Flyers reached double-figures in scoring, led by Kyla Whitehead who had 18 points. As a team, Dayton shot 57% from the field, and drained 11 threes while only turning the ball over eight times.
The way to stopping Dayton is to lock them down defensively. In four of their seven loses, the Flyers were held to 65 points or less. When they do go cold from the field, that’s when you have to make you move on them. In the second quarter last year in Fairfax between these two teams, Dayton shot just 7.7% from the field, while Mason shot 64.3%. George Mason out-scored the Flyers 22-4 in that quarter and went on to win 54-51.
Speaking of that game…
Here's the game-winning shot by @nikkich_14 as George Mason defeats Dayton 54-51! #GetPatriotic pic.twitter.com/khuecwzdYw
— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) February 24, 2019
Tipoff tonight from UD Arena is 7:00 and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
Oh yeah, and I’ll be there. What’s a three hour drive anyway!
