Brian T. Chan, Sports Editor
Overview:
The women’s basketball team looks to defend its home court on Sunday at 1 p.m. when the Patriots take on the heavily favored VCU Rams.
Entering Thursday night’s game against the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks, Mason had an 8-14 overall record and a 1-10 conference record.
The Rams stood atop the Colonial Athletic Association with a 9-2 record against conference opponents and are among the top teams with a 16-7 overall record.
Mason:
Prior to Sunday’s game against the Old Dominion Monarchs, the Patriots dropped its worst home loss of the season, falling to the Hofstra Pride 72-39 and shooting just 25.5 percent from the field. In its last two home games, Mason was held to below 40 points.
The team responded with a solid effort against the Delaware Blue Hens on the road.
Mason held the lead for most of the first half and part of the second half before relinquishing the lead late in the game.
Despite losing for the 10th time on the road, Mason displayed exceptional effort on offense, scoring at least 60 points for the first time since its 72-61 win over the Northeastern Huskies on Jan. 17.
The Patriots look for junior guard Brittany Eley to be its scoring factor. Eley scored 11 points in last year’s 67-43 loss to the Rams. This season, she scored in double-digits five times.
VCU:
Coming off a disappointing home loss to the James Madison Dukes, the Rams went into Norfolk and dominated on the defensive side, forcing 19 turnovers from the Monarchs.
The Rams shot 53.3 percent and outscored the Monarchs 42-30 in the second half en route to a 75-56 win. Forward D’Andra Moss is the Rams’ scoring leader this season with 17.5 points per game. She ranks sixth in the conference in scoring.
Guard Kita Waller leads the team with 56 steals and averages 14.5 points per game.
Both players recorded their 1,000th point in the game against ODU. The Rams have been stealth all season long, leading the CAA with 252 steals and being ranked second in scoring offense with 69.1 points per contest.
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