Next up:                 George Mason University Patriots
Time:                      February 5, 2023; 12 PM
Venue:                    Smith Center; Washington DC
2021-22 Record:   10-19 overall; 3-12 in A10
2023 Projection:   14th
Current Record:   11-12   
   OOC Record:     7-6   
   A10 Record:       4-6
Common OOC:     AU (W), Coppin State (W)
Broadcast:            ESPN+ 

The George Mason University (GMU) Patriots come to Smith Center on Sunday to complete a two-game series in this year’s conference schedule. The Patriots, at 4-6 are tied for 10th place in the A10. Their conference victories include St. Bonaventure, Duquesne, GW, and Davidson. Earlier this week, the Patriots fell to St. Louis 68-56 on the Billikens home floor.

Currently, GMU averages 60.1 ppg on 36.4% shooting (27% from 3-point range) and 62.8% on free throws. They allow 61.9 ppg on 38.8% shooting. Taylor Jameson leads the team in scoring, averaging 13.3 ppg. Sonia Smith chips in 10.1 ppg. 6’2” forward Nalani Kaysia leads the team in rebounding at 6.7 rpg and averages 8 ppg. As a team, GMU ranks 3rd in the conference in offensive rebounding at 13.8 per game. Also 6’2”, Jazmyn Doster comes off the bench and has been effective against GW in the past. She leads the Patriots in shooting percentage at 48.8%.
 
In the first encounter between the teams earlier this season, GMU won 67-57 at EagleBank Arena.
 
About the game:
 
In the previous game, Smith had a big game, finishing with 20 points, followed by Jameson and Kaysia, who had 16 and 14 points respectively. They helped the Patriots finish with a hefty 54.2% field goal percentage for the game. GMU also defended GW well, holding the Colonials to 35.8% shooting, including just 4-25 (16%) from 3-point range.
 
GW did not play particularly well at either end of the court in the first meeting. Smith was very efficient, hitting on 8-13 field goal attempts, Jameson was a perfect 4-4, and their front court duo combined for 24 rebounds. GW outplayed the Patriots in some respects. We forced more turnovers and grabbed more offensive rebounds leading to 19 more shot attempts, but bad shooting determined the outcome. This past Wednesday GW and GMU combined to miss 106 field goal attempts in their games, so both teams are prone to bad shooting days. For GW, the defense came up big to help avoid a loss to Duquesne. In this matchup, that defense has to show up and make the Patriot backcourt work hard for their scores. Offensively, we have to get back to our passing offense and just shoot better—in the first game we would have easily exceeded 8 assists had we just hit more open shots. To this point, Lakstigala and Taiwo have been our most consistent players. Robertson has been a consistent scorer. Others need to step up by consistently making better decisions making on the offensive end.
 
If we can defeat GMU for our 5th consecutive win, it will be the first time since the 2016-17 season, when GW ripped off 7 straight wins to end the A10 regular season. We could use the momentum going into our contest against URI, the best team in the A10, at the Ryan Center in Kingston.

Last edited by xAC (2/03/2023 4:14 pm)