Women's Basketball Falls in Battle With George Mason, 64-60

Saturday, January 19

Washington, D.C.

2 p.m.

George Washington University

6-12 (3-2)

George Mason

10-8 (2-3)

George Mason

George Washington

1/19/2019 4:33:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

Luma nets 22 points for the second straight game

WASHINGTON - When the George Washington women's basketball team renewed acquaintances with nearby foe George Mason in a Saturday afternoon matinee, the game had all the makings of a ballyhooed conference battle. After meeting three times last season, the final of which came in Richmond when George Washington knocked George Mason out of the A-10 Championship, there was little doubt on either bench that this rivalry meant a lot to the Patriots on Saturday. As the reigning A-10 Champions, the Colonials are accustomed to getting every team's best punch, but the 3-0 sting of last season was fresh on the minds of Mason Nation on Saturday.

Befitting of the motivational fuel that the Fairfaxians came with, the visitors gained an early lead, but sparked by sophomore Lexus Levy, GW embarked on a 14-0 GW run that spanned the end of the first and start of the second quarter to force a Mason timeout just over a minute into the second with GW leading 23-12. After a first half in which GW canned five threes, the Colonials went into intermission up, 33-26.

The third quarter was a different story as the Patriots came fighting back. Mason brought with it the conference's leading scorer in Nicole Cardaño-Hillary and her 20.4 points per game average, and while GW responded by throwing the kitchen sink at her, despite holding her well below her season scoring average with 13 points, the playmaker found enough to get it done. Cardaño-Hillary's baker's dozen came via 14 shots, but her seven rebounds and six assists in the game sparked her team's first-ever victory against GW in A-10 competition.

Jacy Bolton was also key for the Patriots in her team-leading 17-point, 14-rebound double-double as the sizable Mason club had it their way inside. A 49-27 rebounding edge (16-4 on the offensive glass) and 28-12 margin in points in the paint for the green team proved to be too much for the smaller Colonials to overcome. Sophomore Neila Luma did her best in an inspired effort by tying her career-high with 22 points (set previously on Wednesday), while senior spark plug Mei-Lyn Bautista went toe-to-toe in a stat-sheet-stuffing battle with Cardaño-Hillary in her 10-point, 7-assist, 6-rebound, 3-steal outing. GW also got 14 points from first-year Maddie Loder.

In the end it came down to free throw shooting and in the four-point contest, GW left five points on the line in a 7-of-12 (.583) final stanza at the stripe. By comparison, George Mason was able to sink 10-of-13 freebies (.769) in the fourth.

With its three-game winning streak snapped, the Buff and Blue look to get back in the winning column against A-10 leading VCU, who will make the drive up 95 for Wednesday night's showdown at the Smith Center. Tip-time in a huge early conference season match-up is 7 p.m. on ESPN+.