Box Score Watch A Replay

NORFOLK, Va. – Kicking off the new year on the right foot, the Norfolk State women's basketball team pulled off one of its biggest upsets in several years with a 60-57 victory over George Mason Monday evening at Joseph Echols Hall.

The Patriots (7-5) had won the previous two meetings each of the last two seasons by an average of 22 points and looked to be headed to another victory after erasing a seven-point deficit in the second half. NSU (6-7), though, forced George Mason into 1-of-8 shooting in the last five minutes of the game, including a desperation trey at the buzzer by forward Janaa Pickard.

Senior Whitney Long had 15 points on the night for NSU and hit the most important basket of the game, a floater in the lane for a 56-55 lead with 46.2 seconds left. Long and sophomore Rae Corbo each hit a pair of free throws in the last 20 seconds of play right after George Mason had missed the front end of a 1-and-1 down by one with 30 seconds to go.

The win marked the first over a CAA opponent in 26 games dating back to a 55-52 victory over William & Mary during the 1999-2000 season.

The Spartans used their advantage down low, outscoring the Patriots by a 34-22 margin in the paint, thanks to a game-high 16 points from junior Batavia Owens and a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards from sophomore Rachel Gordon. The duo combined for 13-of-24 shooting on the night.

NSU held a 45-33 advantage on the boards in the game, and more importantly held the Patriots' leading scorer, Taleia Moton, to 11 points overall, all in the first half. Moton came in averaging 22.1 points per game for the season but was 0-of-9 in the second half, including a tough-shot layup with just over 30 seconds to go that would have given the Patriots the lead.

Christine Weithman was the only other player in double figures for George Mason with 14.

NSU only shot 39.7 percent for the game on 25-of-58 shooting, while George Mason hit 21-of-58 (36.2 percent), including 6-of-20 from beyond the arc. NSU hit just one trey for the game but converted 13-of-18 free throws, compared to just 9-of-17 for the Patriots.

The Spartans got off to a very slow start, missing their first nine shots of the game and even committing five turnovers within the first four minutes of the contest. Gordon drained a short baseline jumper at the 12:00 mark for NSU's first basket to make it 11-3 in favor of George Mason. That bucket started a 13-2 run over the next four minutes for the Spartans that gave them the lead at 14-13. Long hit a pair of baskets, including a trey, and assisted on two layups by Owens during that time.

The Patriots responded right after that with an 8-2 run for a 21-16 lead with 5:25 to go. Gordon, though, hit a mid-range baseline jumper and Long raced past the defense for a fastbreak layup to get NSU back to within one at 21-20 with just around three and a half minutes to go in the first half.

Owens hit a pair of free throws and later grabbed an offensive board and sank the putback with 36 seconds left to tie it up at 26-26 heading into the break. Moton led George Mason with her game total of 11 at the half, with Owens contributing nine points for the Spartans.

Owens showed some good moves down low to hit the first two baskets of the second half, and NSU got the lead to six when Corbo hit a pair of free throws right after that. Gordon converted a pair of layups to keep the lead at six, and a bunny from Long gave the Spartans their biggest lead of the game, 42-35, at the 11:28 mark.

The Patriots then went on an 11-2 run to take their first lead of the second half and twice extended the advantage to four, the latter at 52-48 with 5:03 remaining. Gordon hit a pair of shots to keep it a two-possession game and then found junior Marian Brooks down low for a 52-50 Patriot lead with just under four minutes left.

After Owens tied it up 40 seconds later, Weithman sank a long range shot to put the Patriots back up by three, 55-52, with 2:53 to go. George Mason, though, could not convert for the rest of the game, with Weithman's two free throws with 12 seconds left accounting for the last points of the contest for the Patriots.

Gordon added two assists and two blocks, while junior Recca Trice had a game-high six assists. Moton led the Patriots with five assists also had a team-leading four steals, all within the first four minutes of the game.

With the last non-conference game out of the way, NSU will kick off the full MEAC stretch of play next Saturday against UMES at 4 p.m. at Echols Hall.