On Sue Collins National Girls and Women in Sports Day, George Mason (7-15, 1-8) welcomes UMass (16-6, 6-3) to Fairfax on Wednesday night. The last time these two teams met was the opening round of the 2019 Atlantic 10 Tournament and it produced an instant classic, with the Minutewomen prevailing in 2OT, ending Mason’s season. You better believe that this is a game the Patriots have had circled on their calendars since the day the schedules came out.
There’s no point in sugar coating in: George Mason enters this game on an eight-game losing streak, and sits alone in last place in the Atlantic 10 standings entering today:
Updated @A10WBB Standings:
8-0 Dayton
7-1 VCU
–
6-2 Davidson
6-3 UMass
5-3 Fordham
5-4 Duquesne
4-4 Saint Louis
4-4 Rhode Island
–
3-5 Richmond
3-5 George Washington
3-6 La Salle
2-7 Saint Joseph's
2-7 St. Bonaventure
1-8 George Mason#A10WBB— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) February 4, 2020
Offense, or lack thereof, has been Mason’s Achilles heel to this point in the season. When George Mason scores ~65 points per game, they have a very good record. When they score closer to 50 points per game, or less, then their record drops significantly.
I was encouraged by their fourth quarter performance in their most recent outing at Rhode Island over the weekend. Mason trailed by as many as nine in the fourth quarter, but strung together some defensive stops and managed to get within two in the final minute.
Nicole Cardaño-Hillary posted her first-career double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
That said, Mason’s three point shooting performance at URI was beyond cringe-worthy. They went 2/25 from three, and 28% overall. When a quarter of your shots are threes, and you shoot just 8% on said threes, you’re going to be in for a long afternoon. That alone makes it a minor miracle that George Mason was even within striking distance down the stretch. Fortunately for Mason, URI didn’t shoot much better, just 3/14 from deep and 29% overall.
Scouting UMass
UMass began conference play as perhaps the hottest team in the conference, winning each of their first-four contest before dropping three straight. The Minutewomen responded by winning their last two games over Richmond and Davidson.
They are lead by the two-headed monster of Hailey Leidel and Sam Breen, who combine to average 17 points per game each. To add to that, Breen hauls in about 8.5 boards per game.
Also keep an eye on Destine Philoxy, who is third on the team in scoring, averaging 11.1 points per game.
Also remember that we are celebrating Sue Collins National Girls & Women in Sports Day today, and there will be a special pre-game reception in the Gold Room starting at 6:00:
Celebrate Sue Collins National Girls & Women in Sports Day with us on Wednesday, Feb. 5 at EBA!
🔰 Pregame reception at 6 pm
🔰 25-year anniversary of Keri Chaconas' ('96) 51-point game
🔰 Tip-off at 7 pm vs. UMass📰: https://t.co/DpmxtSDaLd pic.twitter.com/t8kyhrlMjl
— Mason Women’s Basketball (@MasonWBB) January 10, 2020
Tipoff from EBA is 7:00 and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.
