South Fairfax News

Patriots Open A-10 Road Schedule at St. Bonaventure

 The George Mason women's basketball team will look to get back in the win column on Thursday when it travels to St. Bonaventure for its' first conference road match of the season.

The Patriots are looking for their first A-10 road opening win since the 2017-18 season when they downed La Salle 69-56 in Philadelphia.

This is the 14th all-time meeting between the Bonnies and the Patriots, with all meetings coming as members of the Atlantic 10 Conference. Mason's last win was the last time out, when the Patriots snapped a five-game losing-streak against St. Bonaventure, winning 61-50 on the road.

St. Bonaventure went 3-12 in non-conference action and opened up A-10 play with a 74-51 road loss to defending conference champions UMass on Saturday, Dec. 31. The Bonnies' last win came on Dec. 9 against Binghamton at home, downing the Bearcats 50-48.

PATRIOT POINTS

• Mason opened up its' Atlantic 10 conference slate with a tough 71-66 loss to Dayton on Sunday, Jan. 1 and is now 7-7 on the year.
• Senior Nalani Kaysia posted her first career double-double on Sunday, posting 19 points and 14 rebounds, both personal bests. She is averaging a team-high 6.1 rebounds per game.
• Junior Taylor Jameson and senior Sonia Smith continue to pace the offense for the Patriots, averaging 14.4 and 9.5 points, respectively. Smith is also leading the team with 2.9 assists per game.
• Graduate student J-Naya Ephraim had a season-best outing on offense on Sunday, matching her career-high of 11 points in her first double-digit scoring performance of the season.
• As a team, Mason has been shining in the rebounding category, and is ranked fourth in the A-10 in combined team rebounding with 39.9 per game. This is in large part to the Patriots' offensive rebounding efforts, where they rank third in the A-10, pulling down 13.3 offensive boards per game.

SCOUTING THE BONNIES

I'yanna Lops leads the Bonnies on both sides of the court, averaging a team-best 11.4 points, 5.5 rebounds and 2.1 blocks per game so far this season. She has posted two double-doubles and is second on the team in steals with 17.

Maddie Dziezgowski is second on the team in scoring, averaging 9.4 points/game, and is shooting a team-best .377 from 3-point range with 20 makes. Nadechka Laccen has dished out a team-high 54 assists and ranks 11th in the A-10 averaging 3.4 per game. Defensively, Kirah Dandridge leads the team with 19 steals this season.

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