Box Score Dec. 22, 2007
Box Score
Fairfax, Va. -
Clutch threes, excellent press defense, and scoring a season-high 74 points should have given Fordham their first win of the season this afternoon at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Va., but George Mason's Lateisha Wade stole the game with a basket with 0.8 seconds left in overtime to give the Patriots a 76-74 victory.
With the loss, Fordham falls to 0-11, while George Mason improves to 5-4.
Fordham's Kassie Humphries came out firing hitting her first three shots, giving the Rams an early 6-1 lead. Annie Zopf continued the Rams solid play netting four straight points, giving the Rams a 12-10 lead. George Mason then captured their first lead of the game on a three-pointer by Brittany Eley, 13-12, eight minutes into the game. Megan Mahoney quickly got that lead back with a three-pointer of her own, 15-13, but the game went back and forth with Mahoney eventually tying the game at 21 with two free throws.
The Rams then reeled off eight straight points, six coming from the charity stripe, as Fordham opened up their largest lead at 29-21, with 4:30 left in the period. The Rams held onto that lead going into the half at 31-24, as Fordham allowed just one point to the Patriots over the final four minutes of play.
At the break, Fordham took advantage of their free throw attempts, hitting a perfect 10-for-10 in the period, led by Annie Zopf, who had six free throw makes and eight points overall. The Rams also shot a solid 47.6% from the field, while holding George Mason to under 35% shooting from the floor. Megan Mahoney led all scorers with nine points at the break for the Rams, while Moni Akintunde had eight points for the Patriots.
George Mason and Fordham traded baskets over the first four minutes of the second half with the Patriots cutting into the Fordham lead at 38-34, following a pair of free throws by Akintunde. The Patriots then knotted the game at 38 on baskets by Casey Quigley and Eugenia Broadus with 14:45 remaining.
After George Mason took a brief two-point lead, the Rams fought right back with two baskets by Takita Earl and one by Zopf to keep the game tied at 44 with 11:03 to go.
The Rams regained the lead on a three-pointer by Raina Spencer, but the Patriots worked back to take a one-point lead, 50-49, with eight minutes left. The Rams wouldn't go away pulling even at 53 on a basket by Earl, and took a 55-53 lead on two free throws by Mahoney. The Rams kept that two-point lead on a floating jumper by Mahoney to lead 57-55 with 3:28 left.
Mahoney made it a four-point game on another jumper, but Rashauna Hobbs hit two three-pointers to put the Patriots ahead, 63-59, with 1:34 to go. After another basket by Akintunde, Humphries connected for a three-point play with Fordham getting the ball back with 18.7 seconds left. Humphries then connected for her first three-pointer of the season to tie the game at 65 with 14.5 seconds left in regulation. Akintunde threw up Mason's final shot in regulation, but Kristina Bell hauled in the rebound, forcing overtime.
In Fordham's first overtime game in two seasons, the Patriots grabbed a two-point lead on free throws by Quigley, and then boosted that lead to five, 72-67, on Hobbs' third three-pointer of the game with 2:53 left. Fordham would not go away though, as down seven, Humphries hit two free throws, and Zopf nailed a three to close to within two, 74-72, with 45.4 seconds left.
The Rams' defense then forced a turnover, and Mahoney went the distance for a lay-up and tie the game at 74 with 15 seconds on the clock. With the press on, the Patriots were able to find Lateisha Wade, who connected for a basket with 0.8 on the clock and win the game for George Mason.
For Fordham, Megan Mahoney netted a season-high 22 points to go with five assists, while Kassie Humphries also had season-highs with 18 points and five steals. Annie Zopf scored a season-high 17 points to go with three assists.
George Mason's Moni Akintunde netted a season-high 24 points to go with six rebounds, while Lateisha Wade and Rashauna Hobbs each had 11 points.
The Fordham women's basketball team will now break for Christmas, and then return to action at home, as they host the Fordham Holiday Tournament from December 29-30. The Rams will take on Mt. St. Mary's on December 29th at 1:00 PM, followed by Fairfield versus Troy. On December 30th, the two losers from Saturday will meet in the consolation game at 1:00 PM, followed by the championship game.
