Shots Fall and Patriots Advance in CAA Bracket

George Mason Women 74, Virginia Commonwealth 60

George Mason has had its struggles offensively this season. But last night in the opening round of the Colonial Athletic Association tournament, the Patriots rediscovered their shooting touch in a 74-60 victory over Virginia Commonwealth at Patriot Center.

Keyhana Wakefield scored a career-high 18 points to lead four players in double figures for George Mason. The eighth-seeded Patriots (12-16) advance to play top-seeded Old Dominion (19-8) in tonight's quarterfinal.

"I think with a young team, and certainly for us this year, if we start off well, we tend to build on that," said George Mason Coach Debbie Taneyhill, who has the third-youngest team in Division I this season.

George Mason averaged 57.3 points per game entering the tournament but, from the outset, had an offensive rhythm. The Patriots jumped to a 19-12 lead by making three three-pointers in the first 10 minutes. George Mason, which makes only 4.4 three-point baskets per game, made five shots from behind the arc in the first half and finished 6 of 11 from three-point range. George Mason, which hadn't shot better than 50 percent from the field this season, made 55 percent of its shots. Its previous best was 48 percent against Northeastern on Feb. 12.

It helped that the Patriots, who had lost twice to VCU this season, were playing one of the worst defensive teams in the league. The Rams allow 65.9 points per game.

Wakefield entered the tournament in a shooting slump, having made 4 of 19 field goal attempts in her last three games. But she didn't need long to get going on this night. The sophomore guard sank a jump shot just more than five minutes into the game and had 10 points at the half.

After going ahead 54-43 with less than 10 minutes remaining, George Mason nearly squandered its advantage. VCU pulled to 56-54 on Krystal Vaughn's jump shot with 6:18 remaining. The Patriots, however, didn't allow the Rams to take the lead.

"We never hung our heads," said Lateisha Wade, who had 15 points. "We kept encouraging each other. It's all right. Everybody has a run in the game. We still got one more run in us."

George Mason now must face a team that came within one loss of an undefeated CAA season. Old Dominion, which has won 14 straight CAA tournament titles, defeated the Patriots, 71-33, at Patriot Center on Feb. 10. George Mason has never defeated the Lady Monarchs.

"When we lost to VCU twice, we were hungry," Wakefield said. "This is definitely starvation right now."