Box Score

FAIRFAX, Va. – Following an 11-day break for the holiday, the Norfolk State women's basketball team fell to George Mason, 72-45, Wednesday evening at the Patriot Center.

Junior Whitney Long again had another solid game, posting a team-high 16 points to lead the Spartan scoring effort for the third game in the row. The loss dropped NSU to 5-4 on the year, while George Mason improved to 6-5.

Amber Easter tallied 19 points, while Taleia Moton and Brittany Poindexter posted 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Patriots.

Junior Sarah Daily had nine points with six rebounds, but NSU shot just 29.4 percent for the game on 15-of-51 shooting. The Patriots hit 45.6 percent on 26-of-57 shooting and had a 16-of-27 effort from the free throw line.

NSU struggled at the charity stripe, hitting just 11-of-21 (52.4 percent). Sophomores Marian Brooks and Batavia Owens each grabbed six rebounds, while Brooks also added seven points. George Mason also had a 42-36 edge in rebounds and a 32-12 advantage in points in the paint.

George Mason scored the first five points of the game as NSU committed several turnovers, but 3-pointers by Daily and Long put the Spartans up by one with 15:17 to go. Aside from a layup by Easter, neither team could find the bottom of the basket for the next several minutes.

NSU called timeout after a pair of shots put the Patriots up, 11-6, with 10:59 left. A jumper just inside the left elbow by Daily and a fastbreak basket by Long got NSU to five at 19-14 with 7:39 left, but the Patriots got the lead into double digits at 26-16 with 4:30 on the clock on Moton's turnaround jumper. The Patriots ended the half on an 18-3 run to go into halftime up by 20, 39-19.

Long, with 10 points, and Daily, with seven, scored all but two of NSU's points in that first stanza. Moton and Easter tallied 11 and 10, respectively, in the first half.

Long added a pair of baskets early in the second half, but the Spartans did not convert another basket for more than seven minutes. Long drove across the lane and hit an acrobatic jumper in the paint at the 11:05 mark as NSU scored the next six points of the game to cut the Patriot lead to 18.

That was as close as the Spartans got, as George Mason got the lead up to as much as 31 with 4:57 left and went on to win, 72-45.

The Spartans will return home to host Savannah State Sunday at 4 p.m. at Joseph Echols Hall before the full-time MEAC schedule starts the weekend after.