Posted by xAC  2/03/2023 11:00 am | #1 |
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)
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Posted by BC 2/03/2023 4:06 pm | #2 |
Crossing my fingers that the home squad shoots lots better this time - and for the rest of the season. Go GW!
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Posted by xAC 2/05/2023 2:22 pm | #3 |
GW dominates GMU to take a 58-39 victory.
1st Quarter: GW started off slow despite good ball movement on the offensive side. Shots weren’t dropping, but the defense was solid, leading to Patriots’ turnovers and offensive stops. The Colonials’ finished the quarter 5-14 shooting and overtook GMU to take a 13-11 lead thanks to Lok’s basket in the paint to close out the period.
2nd Quarter: The Colonials offense came alive as Robertson and Lakstigala put on a show. Robertson’s 11 points and a pair of 3‘s by Lakstigala’s helped GW extend the lead to 34-21 at the half. The defense forced 12 1st half turnovers and held the Patriots to 36% shooting from the field.
3rd Quarter: GW continued their defensive dominance in the 3rd quarter, holding GMU to just 8 points on 2-15 shooting. On the other end, the offense was very effective in spurts, pushing the lead to 21 points, 50-29.
4th Quarter: The final period was unkind to both offenses, but with the big lead, GW was able to keep the Patriots at bay. A 10-8 4th quarter in favor of GMU gave GW the 19-point margin of victory. Robertson finished with 18 points, followed by 11 from Lakstigala. Taiwo chipped in 10 points and 9 rebounds.
GW’s defense showed up again today and held the Patriots offense in check. Jameson, GMU’s leading scorer, was held without a field goal and just two points for the game. Smith led the Patriots with 11 points but was just 4-12 from the field. For the game, GMU shot 28.8% and was 3-17 from beyond the arc. GW dominated the boards (46-37) and points in the paint (26-14) to offset a mediocre shooting day.
Despite the off-shooting day, GW’s offense showed some positive signs. The passing offense was solid and resulted in a lot of open shots. 13 of GW’s 23 made baskets were assisted, and there were very few unforced turnovers. Because the players were making good offensive decisions, there were no long scoring droughts, so GMU had little opportunity to stage a big comeback. This was a good team win, and a great response to the loss suffered at the hands of GMU on their home court earlier this season.
The win streak is at 5 games with a date against the only undefeated team in A10 play (URI) coming up on Wednesday. It won’t be easy, but I know the team is looking forward to this one.
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Posted by dmvpiranha 2/06/2023 12:12 pm | #4 |
It's been really nice to see the defensive intensity pick up again. That's been the key as of late. The ball was definitely moving a bit better than it has often times this season (Mayowa's pass to Essence on that cut was perfection). It also helped that the three point shots were falling at a reasonably good clip, at least enough to create separation from GMU.
Nya Robertson is a phenomenal player and has undoubtedly a bright future but it still feels like at times we settle for her long jumpers offensively and that makes us somewhat predictable on that end. Right now it seems like teams are willing to let her shoot those shots that are overly deep but it will be interesting to see what happens next year without Mia and Mayowa, who are pretty much the only other players who are focal points of the offense. I don't think Mia even scored after halftime.
Regardless, this team has been highly impressive down the stretch and I think a 3-2 finish would be great in the final 5 games (hopefully not worse than 2-3). The next game @URI and @UMass figure to be tough, and the home game against Loyola is hopefully a W. The road game against SLU and especially that home game against Davidson will be ones to watch in the final weeks of the season. Since La Salle and St. Joe's have been losing lately and we have the tiebreaker against Fordham I think a double bye is actually within the realm of possibility. McCombs continues to do a great job.
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Posted by Poog 2/06/2023 4:27 pm | #5 |
Mayowa has a year of eligibility left.
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Posted by BC 2/06/2023 5:32 pm | #6 |
Poog, any idea if she'll use it?
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Posted by Poog 2/06/2023 6:38 pm | #7 |
BC wrote:
Poog, any idea if she'll use it?
I believe she will but that’s a decision for her to make down the road.
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Posted by BC 2/07/2023 11:02 am | #8 |
She'll be welcomed by me (and I assume Coach McCombs). And another year to hone her offensive skills. Maybe we'll see her take a 3 pointer.
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Posted by gwstudent2024 2/07/2023 11:05 am | #9 |
She'll be welcomed by me (and I assume Coach McCombs). And another year to hone her offensive skills. Maybe we'll see her take a 3 pointer.
There were rumors that she developed an outside shot this offseason but obviously we haven't seen it
