First of all, I gladly welcome any bandwagoners who are mourning that Men’s Basketball is currently on pause for the foreseeable future. I have long striven to be an out-spoken advocate for Women’s Basketball around the nation, and especially here at Mason.
To everyone who is sad over @MasonMBB’s shutdown for the foreseeable future I offer a reminder that Mason has two basketball teams.@MasonWBB plays at 2PM on Sunday at JMU on NBC Sports Washington. #GetPatriotic
— Daniel Frank (@n1a2v3y4) December 4, 2020
I hope this stoppage of Men’s Basketball will serve as a reminder that George Mason has TWO basketball teams, and it’s important to recognize that, and support both teams. While Men’s Basketball is on pause, Women’s Basketball is set to play two games: today at JMU and next Sunday at home against Georgetown. Tune in, support the team, maybe even post a tweet or two about the game. Let others know you are watching Women’s Basketball.
But anyways, let’s get to today’s game. This is gonna be short, but wanted to give a little preview of what to expect today, especially for new readers coming in for their Mason basketball fix.
George Mason (2-1) will face their toughest test of this young season as the Patriots face CAA-favorite James Madison (2-1) in Harrisonburg on Sunday afternoon. JMU was receiving votes preseason in the USA Today Coaches Poll, and ranks #7 in the College Insider Mid-Major Tip 25.
The Dukes enter with wins over Mount St. Mary’s at home and Virginia on the road. Their lone loss of the season came at home against Buffalo. Mason on the other hands has wins over Navy and Longwood with their lone loss coming at Pitt.
Ironically, both teams had pretty similar outings in their most recent games. Both Mason and JMU were propelled by big first half offensive explosions, and were both able to hold off late-game runs to hold on to win.
Mason is coming off back-to-back games with five players scoring in double figures for the first time since the 1998-1999 season. In other words, I was not yet born.
Lots of Patriots filling up the stat sheet 👀#GetPatriotic pic.twitter.com/zRWsti35YU
— Mason Women’s Basketball (@MasonWBB) December 4, 2020
The Patriots are lead by senior guard Marika Korpinen, who in 36.0 minutes per game averages 13.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists. She is undeniably the heart and soul of this team. In addition to Marika, Georgia Tech-transfer Daijah Jefferson has certainly made an impact her first three games in a Patriot uniform. She posted a career-high 17 points against Pitt and recorded her first-career double-double against Navy a week ago. Jazmyn Doster was been a very welcomed surprise offensively thus far, averaging 12.0 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, both career-highs. Also keep an eye on freshman point guard Taylor Jameson who, when she is in her zone, can run Mason’s offense as efficiently as anyone.
On the other side of the coin, James Madison is led by freshman guard Jamia Hazell who leads the team in scoring with 16.0 points per game. In addition, sophomore guard Kiki Jefferson averages 14.0 points and 8.0 rebounds while Rayne Tucker leads the team in rebounding with 11.0 per game, in addition to 9.7 points per game. Also worthy of note, graduate-transfer forward Anne Diouf of JMU is also a Georgia Tech transfer, along with Daijah Jefferson. It will be interesting to see if they might matchup at some point this afternoon.
Tipoff from Harrisonburg is set for 2:00 and the game will be broadcast on NBC Sports Washington and streamed by FloSports.
