Fourth Estate/Mitchell Richtmyre

The Patriots avoided a second straight loss with a rivalry win

BY GABRIEL KING, SPORTS EDITOR

Following its midweek loss to Davidson, Mason women’s basketball defeated George Washington 60-57 on Saturday at EagleBank Arena. The Patriots (20-5, 11-3 Atlantic 10) are now 5-0 following losses this season.

“I thought this was a real gritty and resilient win for our program. We’ve been down some players due to injuries,” Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said. With the win, the Patriots sweep the season series against the Revolutionaries (10-16, 3-11) for the first time since 2019.

The Patriots were without Sonia Smith, their leading scorer, for the second straight game. Paula Suárez and Zahirah Walton returned after missing Wednesday’s loss at Davidson. Suárez scored 16 points and shot 4-5 from 3-point range in her return.

The Patriots started the game on a 9-0 run and led by as many as 16 points in the second quarter. The Revolutionaries stormed back to take a 46-45 lead at the end of the third quarter. In the fourth quarter, Mason held GW to 4-12 shooting to secure the victory.

Jazmyn Doster led Mason with a season-high 17 points on 8-14 shooting. The veteran center also grabbed eight rebounds for the Patriots. “[We’re] showing everyone in the conference that this is what we’re capable of. Not where our limit is, but what we’re capable of,” Doster said. 

“Jazmyn was huge for our win tonight. After coming off just such a disappointing loss to Davidson, I really thought this was a team win, led by Jazmyn Doster,” Blair-Lewis said. Along with a season-high in points, Doster posted season highs in assists and field goals made.

The Revolutionaries’ second half run was led by 14 points and a game-high 15 rebounds from Mayowa Taiwo. Despite Taiwo’s performance, Mason outscored GW 15-11 in the fourth quarter to overcome the Revolutionaries’ run.

“We just wanted to make sure that we recovered and that we rebounded,” Blair-Lewis said. “And then on our end, we wanted to go inside to Jazmyn and get contact to be able to get to the free throw line.”

With the win, Mason remains in the top four of the A-10. The Patriots are still alive for the regular season A-10 championship, as they are two games back with four games remaining. Two of Mason’s remaining games are against fellow top-four teams, Richmond and VCU. 

The Patriots will return to action on Wednesday at St. Bonaventure. Mason will then head home for a matchup with in-state rival and current A-10 leader Richmond on Feb. 24.