Women's Basketball Faces Road Test at UMBC Wednesday
Nov. 18, 2008
The George Mason women's basketball team will try to snap a 10-game losing streak and earn its first win in the Jeri Porter era when it visits UMBC in the Patriots' first road game of the 2008-09 season. Tip time from RAC Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. Fans can follow the game live in a variety of ways. Live stats can be found here, while Fox Sports Radio 1370 AM will broadcast the game live. Fans wishing to watch the game can see live streaming video at UMBCRetrievers.tv, at a cost of $4.95. Mason is coming off of a tough opening weekend of play. Despite a strong effort, Mason fell to Bucknell, 62-51 in the season opener Friday. Mason, which held a 41-to-35 rebounding advantage in the game, was led by a career-best 20 points and three steals from sophomore Brittany Poindexter. Against Richmond, freshman Becky Cox scored 10 points on 80 percent shooting in her collegiate debut to lead the Patriots in a 75-46 loss to the Spiders. Cox connected on four of her five field goal attempts en route to 10 points, and led the Patriots with seven rebounds and four assists as well. UMBC dropped its season opener on Saturday, falling 75-56 at George Washington. Carlee Cassidy led the Retrievers with 31 points, the 15th person in school history to eclipse the 30-point mark. UMBC's offense shot 28.8 percent from the field (21-73) while the Colonials held a 63-to-45 rebounding advantage. Last season, UMBC finished 9-21 and has lost five straight games.
Last times these two teams met, senior Lateisha Wade scored 19 points to lead the Mason to its second victory of the season, a 58-57 nail-biter over UMBC in non-conference action on Nov. 21, 2007 at Patriot Center. Mason leveled its season mark at 2-2 after its second win in as many games, powered by strong shooting in the second-half to hold off a feisty Retriever team that fell to 1-4. Joining Wade in double figures was freshman Brittany Poindexter, who doubled her previous best output with 12 points to go with a game-high eight rebounds. Leading the UMBC offense was Carlee Cassidy, who chipped in 17 points. The Patriots have never lost to any of the current membership of the America East Conference, amassing an 11-0 record all-time. Prior to last year's home victory over UMBC, Mason's last America East matchup was a 67-56 victory at Hartford on Nov. 22, 2002. The Patriots lead the all-time series against the Retrievers, 6-0. Wednesday's trip to UMBC will be a homecoming of sorts for nearly half the Mason roster, as Maryland has proven to be a fertile recruiting ground for the Patriots. Six current Mason players hail from the Old Line State, and Mason is one of seven schools in Division I that has six or more players from outside the school's home state. Following the game, the Patriots return home for the final time until Dec. 30 when they square off against in-state rival Virginia Tech at 2 p.m. on Sunday. |
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