FAIRFAX, VA- It was an emotional afternoon in EagleBank Arena yesterday, as George Mason closed out their regular season campaign with a tough 64-59 loss to La Salle. This game was really a microcosm of this season in that they struggled at times, got down, but kept fighting and competed their tails off until the final buzzer sounded.
Early on, the Patriots started off slow, getting down 6-0 in the first minute of the game, causing Nyla Milleson to call a quick timeout. But Mason responded with a 9-3 run to take a 15-14 lead after one quarter of play.
The second quarter is where things really went off the rails for Mason. The Patriots managed just two field goals in the period, going 9:18 between made baskets, but still only trailing by seven points at the half.
The second half was very evenly played and in fact, the Patriots actually out-scored the Explorers in the final 20 minutes, 33-31. Down the stretch of the game, George Mason pulled as close as just one-point down with 49.3 seconds left, after Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and Jacy Bolton combined for a rare five-point play. Down three points after two La Salle free throws, they Patriots had the ball with a chance to tie with 15 seconds left, but turned the ball over by stepping out of bounds on the baseline. Two more La Salle free throws put the game out of reach in the final seconds.
Just as Milleson has said all year, they battled, and left everything on the floor. They just came up a little bit short again today.
Reflections on this Senior Class
After the game, Head Coach Nyla Milleson, and Seniors Jacy Bolton and Alexsis Grate offered some reflections on the past four years at Mason.
When I asked Lex about how she has seen this team grown over the course of this season, and the past four years as a whole, she replied, “I feel like we’ve grown tremendously, in the past we would’ve folded in the second quarter, third quarter, we’ve fought to the end of every game from my perspective. We definitely would’ve folded two years ago, early.”
“The lesson we’ve learned is we just gotta start better. In my opinion, the games that we’ve lost, we’ve lost in the first five or six minutes. We start better, we’re in every ballgame. We’ve fought to the end every single game, we just have to find a way to start better.”
When Jacy was asked about her favorite thing about her time at Mason, she replied though a stream of tears “”The people, because the flowers and teddy bears.” she said, motioning to the pile of presents on the floor of the media room that family and friends alike had given to her. “The best fans through thick and thin.”
Nyla Milleson added her own reflections, not just on this class, but the past seven years she’s spent at the helm of the Green & Gold:
“To watch this program grow over the past seven years…I remember the very first night I got here…we went for the National Anthem and literally there was about 25 people and I kinda looked around and I went ‘wow.'”
“But it’s not only been our play and what we’ve done and built that, but it’s been the type of people we’ve been able to bring in. We’re out in the community…we’ve got people. 100%, you’ve gotta win ballgames and unfortinatley we haven’t been able to do that this year, but we have really built a fanbase that is really really loyal, they come back. The little kids in the stands, I love it. We’ve brought role models in…but I can tell you our attendance has grown…I think it’s even better than it was last year. That’s another thing that I’m very very proud of.”
On this senior class, Nyla added, “Jacy started every game in her career that she’s been eligible to start…Lex would’ve started a whole lot more had she not been injured. Sarah was in the starting lineup as a freshman and Allie has been in and out and the ultimate teammate…They’ve just been such good people.”
“I’m heartbroken for them with this season, they work so hard. They had a chance to be the winningest class in school history, it was just a few more wins and for them not to reach their basketball goals with all the other things that we’ve reached…it’s just been really hard…but I can also tell you they didn’t quit on me and that says a lot about their character.”
Looking Ahead
George Mason finishes the regular season 9-20, 3-13 in the A-10. The Patriots claim the 13-seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament, and will face 4-seed Saint Louis on the road Tuesday night at 8:00 ET.
When asked about facing the Billikens again, Milleson said, “We’re gonna have to find a better way to guard their post player (Kendra Wilken) from last time, we didn’t do a very good job there. (Ciaja) Harbison is one of the best guards in the conference.
If the Patriots advance past Saint Louis, they will face the winner of UMass and St. Bonaventure on Friday at 2:00 in Dayton, OH.
Here’s a look at the A-10 Tournament bracket:
It’s March now. You never know what might happen…
