Jordan Giles/Fourth Estate
Defensive stops and collective group efforts leading Patriots to victories
BY CHRISTIAN SEGOVIA, SPORTS EDITOR
After their win against the University of Dayton on Feb. 1, Mason women’s basketball has improved to a 19-3 record, with a 9-2 in the Atlantic 10. Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis was named to the Kathy Delaney–Smith Midseason Watch List Coach of the Year award for the second year in a row. Sophomore guard Kennedy Harris earned Player Of The Week once again, averaging 26 points, six assists per game, while shooting 55% from the field goal with 75% from the three-point range.
In the team’s win against Davidson 81-73 on Jan. 22, Harris dropped a career-high 29 points, with 12 coming in the fourth quarter. Harris drove to the paint and pulled up from mid-range to get her buckets. The team stepped up defensively, getting four steals and two blocks converting them into points to come back from a 63-55 heading into the final quarter.
“Most of them were in foul trouble, so I was just attacking them to see if I can make the layup with the contact,” Harris referred to her asking for the ball in the fourth quarter. “I was just looking at mismatches. I was just attacking every single time.”
The team’s defensive performance continued into the Jan. 25 91-50 win over George Washington. The Patriots forced Washington to turn over the ball 25 times. They led the points off turnovers, outscoring Washington 34-3, with 15 coming in through the fourth quarter.
Mason was down at halftime 25-30 against George Washington. Once the second half started, Mason outscored Washington 66-20, leading them to victory.
In any match, an athlete on the team can step up unexpectedly and make an impact by scoring or getting defensive stops.
“That’s the luxury we have. We have players that can score and they’re unselfish,” Head Coach Lewis said the team’s win. “If it’s Ken’s night, if it’s Zah’s night, if it’s Paula’s night, we just get out the way, and they celebrate each other in that way.” ‘Ken’ and ‘Zah’ referring to Kennedy Harris and redshirt sophomore forward Zahirah Walton.
On Jan. 22, Mason had four players score in double digits, leading to a win against Davidson.
Harris scored 29 points, Walton scored 20, senior guard Paula Suárez scored 18, and sophomore forward Louis Walker had 11.
Four players scored double digits against George Washington: Harris with 23 points, Walton with 20, junior forward Nekhu Mitchell with 14, and graduate guard Ta’Viyanna Habib with 10. Mitchell scored all 14 of her points in the second half.
“It’s been a very long season for me,” Mitchell said about her second-half performance. “It was a great game for me to finally show what I was capable of and just an artwork show.”
On the road, with an 80-53 victory against Saint Louis on Jan. 29, Walton recorded a career-high 30 points, six assists, five rebounds, and shot 64.7% from the field goal. Two other players reached double-figures: Walker and junior guard Jada Brown, each scored 11 points.
Their next road against Dayton on Feb. 1 resulted in an 86-53 win. Suarez had 23 points, Ta’Viyanna had 19, graduate student forward Nalani Kaysia had 12 and Walton had 11.
Mason’s defense held both teams to scoring only seven points in the second quarter in both road wins. They also held the teams under 40% shooting from the field goal and below 30% from the three-point range.
As the Patriots aim to take their 20th win of the season and extend their seven-game win streak on homecoming week, they return home on Feb 5. to face Virginia Commonwealth University at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.