FAIRFAX, VA- Fordham simply could not be stopped from beyond the arc, hitting a blazing 11 threes en route to a 66-54 victory over George Mason. The loss drops Mason to 7-11 (1-5) while Fordham moves to 11-6 (3-1).
The story of this game begins and ends with Bre Cavanaugh for Fordham. She dropped 29 points, which ties a season-high for her, and hit five three-pointers, also a season high. As a team, Fordham hit 11 threes on 26 attempts. You kinda had the feeling that Cavanaugh was due for a big night, especially after she was held to 12 points in the Rams last outing against George Washington. Not to mention Bre lost out to Mason’s own Nicole Cardaño-Hillary the past two years for A-10 Rookie of the Year and A-10 Player of the Year.
While Cavanaugh was a one-woman wrecking ball, she was not Fordham only top performer. Kaitlyn Downey racked up 15 points and seven rebounds, and hit three trey of her own, not to mention three steals.
After the game, Mason coach Nyla Milleson said of Fordham, “In order to have a chance against (Fordham), you’re going to have to match their physicality. I thought there were spots in the game we did, but first half when you shoot 19% you’re not gonna be in many ballgames.”
Milleson is exactly right. As well as Fordham shot the ball, George Mason didn’t do themselves any favors either. In the first half, the Patriots posted just 17 points, and Jacy Bolton was the only Mason player to have made more than one shot. To add insult to injury, George Mason as a team did not record a single point in the paint in the first half, something that has been a point of emphasis for this team all season long.
That said, the second half was a lot better. After scoring just 17 points in the first half, Mason posted 23 points in the third quarter alone, and added 17 more in the fourth quarter. If you throw away the first half, Fordham only out-scored the Patriots 40-37. This is the second game in a row that Mason has performed quite poorly in the first half, but did come back at least with a strong second half.
After the game, I asked Coach ‘how do you string together four quarters?’ Milleson cheekily answered “If you can figure that out, let me know and we’ll both be rich.” She then continued, “Consistency is really what is killing us…It’s just really staying attention to the detail and locking in on the discipline on defense.”
Nyla eluded to the idea too that this lack of consistency is something that has plagued the team not just in games, but in practice as well. “There’s been moments we’ve been really really good and then we lose it. We’ve tried a number of thing from consequences to starting the drill over to moving onto the next drill.”
“Until we can just buckle down (and be disciplined) for 40 minutes and do that, we’re gonna continue to struggle.”
Despite the loss, there were some bright spots for George Mason. Nicole Cardaño-Hillary led the team with 16 points, along with seven rebounds and five assists. Camarie Gatling added 13 points and five boards while Sarah Kaminski had six points and six rebounds.
Perhaps the single biggest improvement overall was that as a team, George Mason only had 10 turnovers, the fewest since December 4 against Bucknell, and tied a season-low.
“Nobody from me down to the last player on the bench wants to lose,” said Milleson. “There’s no moral victories, we wanna win and we step on the floor every game…but we’re just not able right now to put 40 minutes together. We’re just gonna continue to battle.”
The Patriots are back in action Wednesday at Duquesne and will return home on Saturday to face 4-0 VCU at 2:00.
