Mason Women Fall to Defending A-10 Champs Dayton 59-37

The George Mason women’s basketball team ran into a tough Dayton team Friday night and couldn’t quite hit their offensive stride as they fell to the defending Atlantic 10 champions 59-37 at EagleBank Arena.

Mason came out of the gate slowly, shooting only 29% (4 for 14) in the first quarter. They made up for their lack of offense, however, with some tough defense, forcing Dayton into six first quarter turnovers. The Patriots found themselves down by only two points, 13-11, after one period.

The poor shooting continued into the second quarter and the Patriots found themselves down 26-19 at the half. The deficit would have been even greater but post-grad Daijah Jefferson hit a three from the left corner with just 19 seconds remaining to bring Mason within seven at the break.

The Patriots came alive in the second half and Jordan Wakefield’s three with 5:30 to go in the 3rd quarter brought them to within 6 points of the defending champs. However, Dayton showed their mettle and showed why they were defending champs by outscoring Mason 20-10 in the 4th quarter to close out the game.

Marika Korpinen led the Patriots with 12 points, followed by Jordan Wakefield with 10 and Daijah Jefferson with 8.

The loss drops Mason to 3-7 overall and 0-3 in A-10 play