BY NATALIE HEAVREN, SPORTS EDITOR
Women’s basketball fell to Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) 62-38 on Sunday afternoon, dropping to 5-7 in conference play while the Rams improved to 12-1.
Here are three takeaways from the loss.
- Sometimes the odds just aren’t in your favor.
Coming into this game VCU was averaging just 4.1 made threes. However, they made two in just the first two minutes, and finished with 10.
“We started the game trying to play a little bit of odds,” said head coach Nyla Milleson. “They are not typically a three-point shooting team by the year-long stats. They made those today.”
Mason, on the other hand, made just three of their 18 attempts from behind the arc.
2. Camarie Gatling was able to provide a spark in the paint.
Camarie Gatling was the only Patriot to make more than two field goals, going 5-11 from the floor. She finished the game with 10 points, four rebounds and two blocks.
“I definitely struggled to begin with,” Gatling said after the game. “I have to go against a lot of big, athletic, talented post players all the time and it’s just finding your groove and finding what works for you.”
In the last eight games, Gatling has had at least four fouls in seven of them. She went on to say, “I know that lately, I’ve been getting in a lot of foul trouble, just keeping that in the back of my mind and focusing on what Coach needs me to do to make sure I’m scoring on offense.”
Continuing to be conscious of her fouls and finding her groove will be critical for Gatling as the team enters the final stretch of conference play.
3. Mason needs to perform on both ends of the court.
After the game Milleson said, “At the end of the day it wasn’t really our defense, we gotta put the ball in the hole.”
She acknowledged both the Rams’ defensive success and her own team’s offensive struggles, saying, “Very good defensive team though, they’re one of the best in the country but at the same time when you get to the doorstep as many times as we did you need to finish, we had our opportunities and we just did not capitalize today.”
The Patriots return home to take on the University of Dayton on Feb. 24 at 2 p.m.
