Late Push by Gators Falls Short at George MasonFAIRFAX, Va. – Florida women's basketball made a late push at George Mason on Wednesday evening, but wasn't able to overcome an eight-point fourth-quarter deficit, falling to the Patriots, 75-71. In her homecoming matchup, Kiara Smith led the Gators (6-3, 0-0 SEC) with 19 points and six assists while Lavender Briggs contributed 15 points, 12 rebounds, three assists and two blocks. Jordyn Merritt and Nina Rickards were also in double-digit scoring at 12 and 10, respectively. Briggs' double-double marked the 12th of her career, helping the Gators to a 40-38 rebounding advantage over the Patriots (6-3, 0-0 A10). The Gators also outscored GMU in the paint, 34-24. For the game, Florida shot 29-of-68 (42.6%) while the Patriots shot 25-of-55 (45.5%), including eight triples. Both teams took care of the ball on Wednesday, with the Gators only recording 13 turnovers and George Mason ending with 14. The opposition did hold a 16-10 advantage in points off of turnovers, however. The Gators wasted no time establishing a presence on the offensive end of the court, opening up the game on an 11-3 run. Briggs led the charge during the run, collecting four early points while Smith connected on a deep three to further increase the lead. George Mason would battle back with a 6-0 run of their own, pulling to within 11-9 with 2:14 on the clock. Florida would respond with back-to-back layups from Smith and Merritt, but a last second three-pointer from the Patriots' Jordan Wakefield would close the gap to 15-12 at the end of one. In similar fashion to the first quarter, the Orange & Blue used a strong offensive start to open-up a 22-15 lead following an Alberte Rimdal triple. George Mason would get hot from the field, utilizing an 8-0 run in just over a minute to take a 23-22 lead over the Gators. After an exchange of buckets, the opposition would put together a quick 5-0 spurt to take a 33-29 lead into the break. read the rest at:Late Push by Gators Falls Short at George Mason - Florida Gators
after all the belly aching about slow starts our team won the first and third quarters good to see the improvement at the get go this game was lost in qtr 2 and the kids were still battling in the 4th qtr where they were out scored by 1. Both teams took care of the ball on Wednesday, with the Gators only recording 13 turnovers and George Mason ending with 14. The opposition did hold a 16-10 advantage in points off of turnovers, however.
As I was unable to watch the game I have a couple of questions. It looks like our stars played well, so what was the difference? Is George Mason any good? Reading the write up it looks like we had plenty of fight and kept battling back. Objectively, should we have won easily?
Mason Knocks Off Florida for Third Straight Win Game Recap: Women's Basketball | 12/1/2021 10:10:00 PM FAIRFAX, Va. – The George Mason women's basketball team downed Florida, 75-71, on Wednesday evening at EagleBank Arena in Fairfax, Va. Mason earned its third straight win to improve to 6-3 on the season. It marked Mason's second-ever win over an SEC opponent, and the first one since Dec. 30, 1996, when the Patriots defeated Auburn in overtime (56-55). Senior Amaya Scott led the Patriots and tied her career-high 25 points on 10-of-17 shooting (.588). She scored 15 of Mason's 29 first-half points, and added a team-high nine rebounds. It marked the sixth 20-spot of her career, and sixth straight game in double figures. Junior Tamia Lawhorne added a season-best 19 points, draining four three-pointers on seven attempts (.571). Junior Jordan Wakefield (15) and sophomore Taylor Jameson (10) also finished in double figures for the Patriots. Wakefield and Jameson both went 5-of-6 from the free throw line to help seal the victory down the stretch. Mason improves to 6-0 when three-of-more players score 10+ points. Mason shot 45.5 percent from the floor (25-55) and made a season-best eight three-pointers (.381). The Patriots made 27 trips to the free throw line, making 17 attempts (.630). Florida finished 42.6 percent from the field (29-68) and made just five three-pointers (.26.3). The Patriots limited the Gators to only 12 trips to the charity stripe (.667). The Gators quickly stormed out to an 11-3 lead before the first media timeout, capitalizing on three early fouls by the Patriots. Mason then made a defensive stand, holding the Gators to just four points for the remainder of the period. The Patriots fought back and trailed by three after the first quarter (15-12), courtesy of a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Wakefield. Mason went on an 8-0 run to take its first lead of the game with four minutes remaining in the second quarter (23-22). The Patriots and Gators then took turns taking the lead in a back-and-forth contest for the remainder of the first half. The Patriots held a three-point advantage at the break after making seven of their last nine field goals (33-29). The Gators rallied from their deficit to even the score at 41 all. The Patriots took a two-point lead at the media break, and held a three-point lead with one quarter to go (51-48). To start the fourth quarter, Mason went on a 6-2 run to jump ahead by seven. Florida closed in on the Mason lead at the media timeout (61-58), and made it a one-point game with under a minute to go (65-66), but the Patriots got it done from the charity stripe to hold on for the victory (75-71). the rest at:Mason Knocks Off Florida for Third Straight Win - George Mason University Athletics
the difference IMO was the poor shooting particularly our 3 pt shots we had a solid start, a bad 2nd qtr but battled the second half
honestly I watched the game live on line and our star players had nice stats but did not play particularly well. We were out hustled much of the game. We played very clinically, we seemed to be thinking way too much. Kelly while she stated she wanted to run slows the ball down a ton and runs a lot of set pieces which look disjointed and we seem to be rushing to get shots up very late in the clock a lot of times. Mason had a very small center who took our big off the dribble the entire game and abused them and we never adjusted at all. In another thread I said it looked like we were being over coached. This reminds me of the mens team the last few years where the coach is coaching not to lose. These young women are very good athletes and we are not being allowed to get up and and down the floor. Kiki is at her best running and she just is not doing that right now. Kelly Rae needs to let the leash go some
Our half court offense does look pretty bad that's for sure. Virginia Tech beat this team by almost 30. We should be better than we are. These girls have had a terrible off-season I am sure, and it was going to be tough for Kelly. I really think Scott is going to have to make some tough decisions pretty fast. The schedule is about to get much tougher in a hurry. We will see if the university is serious about this program or not. LSU and Vanderbilt are looking much improved after making great hires, and Ole Miss is picking up steam under Yolette. With the talent we have we could go out and hire a proven coach like some other programs and get this fixed. I don't see them paying big enough to get a Mulkey to LSU or Hammon type of hire....but I really am starting to think we need to keep an eye on Delisha. She's young, a Gator, and she turned Pepperdine around in two seasons and has Old Dominion looking pretty good in Year 2 as well.
Coaching matters. An Assistant Coach is an assistant for a reason. We look much worse this year than last. Defense is suspect and offensive decline is really surprising. I thought with those returning and talent we have on roster that we would really improve this year. I was completely wrong. Florida Gulf Coast and USF ladies basketball is far superior to UF. Shame.
