Quinnipiac’s junior center Anna Foley (left) and senior forward Ella O’Donnell (center) guard junior forward Zahirah Walton (right) as she attempts a jumper. No shot came easy against the stingy Bobcat defense. (Mitchell Richtmyre / Fourth Estate)
Walton’s 17-second-half points not enough as Patriots end season with loss to Quinnipiac in first invitational round
BY BRIAN A. HAYUM, SPORTS EDITOR AND PETER MAHLER, ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR
Mason women’s basketball fell short of a 15-point comeback against the Quinnipiac Bobcats on Thursday. The 71-64 loss knocks the Patriots out of the Women’s Basketball Invitation Tournament, ending their season.
Quinnipiac showed why they are the second-ranked defense in the country, holding Mason’s offense to 37.5% FG.
“The leading scorers for George Mason; holy cow,” said Quinnipiac senior guard Jackie Grisdale. “We knew we were going to do the best that we could on them. I thought we handled everyone else really well, and we found our flow offensively.”
The Bobcats had a shooting night to remember, making at least half of their shots, including 8-16 from 3-point range. Grisdale scored 21 points (6-11 FG), including half of Quinnipiac’s eight 3-pointers, a game-high.
The Patriots struggled to score efficiently throughout their campaign, ending with a 39% FG for the season. Those struggles carried over to the invitation tournament.
“We finished the game with [around] 30% [shooting],” Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said. “They shot 50%. [You’re] not going to win a lot of games like that.”
Freshman guard Ella Ryan’s logo 3-pointer midway through the first period was an early sign of the Bobcats’ offensive barrage.
Four Bobcats scored double digits. Grisdale, senior forward Ella O’Donnell, Ryan and junior guard Karson Martin combined for 61 points on an efficient 56% shooting from the field.
Juniors Zahirah Walton (24 points) and Kennedy Harris (17 points) carried Mason’s offense. However, Mason lacked the depth to keep pace. No other Patriot scored more than five points, leading to a 15-point deficit with 5:30 left in the third quarter.
Walton (left) sits beside Mason Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis (right) while she delivers her final post-game remarks of the season. She commended her players for their hard work and for bringing home Mason’s first-ever A-10 regular season title. (Mitchell Richtmyre / Fourth Estate)
Walton powered the late comeback, exploding for 17 points in the final 20 minutes. The battle at the basket was a tale of two halves. After getting dominated in the paint 18-10 in the first half, Mason outscored the Bobcats the rest of the way, 20-12.
Quinnipiac Coach Tricia Fabbri, who announced her retirement after 28 years with the team, expressed respect for Mason and their star player.
“Walton’s special,” she said, noting the preparation it took to beat the A-10 regular season co-champions. “Look, I’ve got a lot of coaching friends that said, ‘I’m sorry that you drew them in the first round.’”
Before the game, Blair-Lewis was seen on the court handing Fabbri a gift.
“Tricia and I go way back,” Blair-Lewis said. “I was a really young coach at Mount St. Mary’s when she was [at] Quinnipiac; we were in the same league, so she’s done a lot for this game. [In] 31 years, she’s seen a lot of wins and a lot of losses, but she’s poured into a lot of lives, and so I just wanted to honor her and just thank her for what she’s done for the game.”
After the loss, Mason players leave the court for one last time. Even in defeat, the Mason cheerleading squad cheers them on. (Mitchell Richtmyre / Fourth Estate)
The loss to an old rival concludes an otherwise successful season for Blair-Lewis’s Patriots. Mason went 23-10, won its first-ever regular season title and posted a historic third straight 20-win season. Blair-Lewis couldn’t help but appreciate all that her team has done.
“[I’m] really proud of the work that we put in and the legacy that we’re building, especially off of the backs of [Kennedy] and [Zahirah],” she said. “They have come here, they have made their mark, we’ve done what we said we were going to do and we’ve been a part of really building something spectacular.”
