(Quang Vu Minh / George Mason Athletics)
Mason players and coaches celebrate regular season title by cutting EagleBank nets
BY PETER MAHLER, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
On the heels of a five-game win streak that culminated in the program’s first-ever regular season title, George Mason women’s basketball (21-8, 16-2 in A-10) will travel to Henrico, Virginia, for a chance to defend last year’s A-10 tournament championship.
On a dreary Tuesday afternoon at EagleBank Arena, Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis performed the hallowed rite of cutting down the nets, celebrating another successful season in front of her beaming players and not letting the bad weather rain on their parade.
Since before the season began, Blair-Lewis has championed the mantra, “Believe Big Squared,” saying that exponential growth, not just wins, is what the team would be chasing during the 2025-26 season.
“The expectation was to be back in the same spot,” junior guard Kennedy Harris said, referring to the team’s preseason mindset.
“We had different teams, different teammates, new energy — but I feel like this energy has brought us to the same spot and even better,” she said.
Inheriting a program that went winless in conference play the year before, Coach Blair-Lewis has completely transformed Mason’s trajectory, leading the Patriots to three straight 20-win seasons for the first time ever, cementing herself in school history.
Blair-Lewis, who holds a 55-30 career record in the A-10, praised her team’s selfless chemistry, noting that they care more for each other than they do for themselves individually.
“They have worked so hard, they have believed in the assignment, they believed in each other, they believed in this coaching staff … There’s a standard here and they understand that,” Blair-Lewis said with the netting still in her hands.
“It’s been so easy to coach them because they are competitors by heart, but they’re sisters by blood.”
For star junior forward Zahirah Walton, the team chemistry begins off the court during team dinners — one of many moments where she and her teammates come together.
Walton, named All-Conference First Team on Tuesday, has been a constant presence since stepping onto campus in 2022. After averaging 11 ppg and 14.8 ppg in her first two seasons, Walton delivered her best campaign yet, leading the Patriots with 18 ppg — good for second in the A-10 — as well as in rebounds, assists and blocks.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure, working hard in the summer, and seeing the results pay off,” said Walton. “I think it’s a [testament] to hard work. It’s going to show regardless. If you keep working, it’s going to show up.”
Blair-Lewis says that Walton is relentless. “I think that, when you are one of the best players in the A-10 — and everybody is focusing on you night in, and night out — for her to show up every single day to the best of her ability … that takes a lot,” Blair-Lewis said.
“It takes a lot of consistency, and even in the tough games where she struggles sometimes to score, she was still able to be out there for her teammates and defend and fill in the other categories besides scoring … She is a pro in her game,” Blair-Lewis said.
Harris joined Walton on the All-Conference First Team and earned All-Academic honors, while graduate forward Hawa Komara was named to the All-Defensive Team. Freshman guard Mary Amoateng capped an impressive debut, landing on both the All-Rookie and All-Defensive teams.
The Patriots rode a 10-0 start to their A-10 schedule before losses to third-in-conference Richmond (25-6, 15-3 in A-10) and co-regular season champion Rhode Island (25-4, 16-2 in A-10) back in early February exposed cracks in their armor.
Mason struggled in those outings, shooting a combined 32% (45-of-140) and averaging just 60 points. The defense uncharacteristically gave up over 70 points in each matchup — a significant departure from their season standards of 67 points scored and 60 allowed.
“During that little segue in our season, we were struggling to score,” Blair-Lewis said. “And so our conversation was, ‘That’s not the only way to impact the game. Let’s get back to our defensive prowess.’”
Blair-Lewis, Walton and Harris all point to the 46-37 win against Richmond as the season’s defining moment — a game where Mason’s defense singlehandedly avenged an earlier loss.
“I think we responded really well to adversity during the hard time that we were dealing with as a team… and that showed that we can respond and be the team that we want to be,” Harris said.
Blair-Lewis echoed Harris’s sentiment, saying it fueled them for the rest of the season and challenged them to rely on their defense to help spark their offense.
(Quang Vu Minh / George Mason Athletics)
Mason hasn’t lost since defeating Richmond on Feb. 16. On top of a stout defense that is holding opponents to under 60 ppg, Walton, Harris and Amoateng have powered the Patriots’ offense to the longest win streak of any team heading into the tournament.
“I think the wins come when you do things the right way and you have an expectation from your players to grow like we want them to grow,” Blair-Lewis said. “And not just haphazardly. Let me be efficient in everything that I do so it shows up somewhere else.”
Mason will look to continue their “herstoric” run going into the A-10 tournament, where they will face No. 7 Dayton. Fans can tune in tomorrow on ESPN+ to watch the 5 p.m. tipoff.
