FAIRFAX, Va. – The Saint Joseph's women's basketball team dropped a contested road matchup on Wednesday evening, falling 65-60 to George Mason inside EagleBank Arena.
 
The Hawks move to 18-9 on the year, 8-7 in conference play. With the win, Mason has now won four of its last five to move to 15-14 and 8-8 in the A-10.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• After an early 8-2 lead in favor of the hosts, back-to-back possessions for the Hawks cut the deficit to two points.
• Six turnovers in the opening frame and a Mason squad that shot above 50% from the floor over the opening 10 minutes saw the Patriots take a 23-14 lead at the end of the first quarter.
• Talya Brugler opened the second quarter with four-straight points, the Hawks using a 9-4 run to cut the deficit to 27-23.
• After George Mason re-extended the advantage to eight, Olivia Mullins started a 6-0 run with a pull-up jumper before Brugler capped it off with her 10^th point of the contest to trail 33-31.
• Laura Ziegler countered a Patriot bucket that stopped the Hawk run, finishing through traffic for her ninth point as the two teams went into the locker room with George Mason leading 35-33.
• The Hawks would get 11 of their 13 points in the third quarter from the combination of Ziegler and Brugler, including the first 11. Emma Boslet deposited a slick step back in the latter stages of the quarter as the Hawks trailed by three with 10 minutes remaining.
• Again, the bigs would be called into action to combine for the first 10 points of the fourth quarter, Brugler with a pair of threes to give the Hawks a 56-52 lead.
• An 8-0 run for the Patriots on a five-minute drought for St. Joe's gave George Mason a 60-56 with under two minutes remaining.
• The Hawks finally got on the board after a tipped pass from Katie Jekot led to a transition to cut the deficit to two with under 30 seconds remaining.
• On the other end, the Hawks were able to get a 1-2 effort at the free throw line for a chance to tie it on the other end. The ensuing three-point attempt fell short and Mason were able to knock down free throws towards the end of the game to escape with a 65-60 win.

 
GAME NOTES

• George Mason entered the day averaging just 60.6 points per game, the Patriots scoring nearly half (23) of that mark after the first quarter.
• Talya Brugler secured her 24^th game in double figures with 10 first half points, finishing with 25 on 11-18 shooting. The sophomore added six rebounds and three assists.
• Laura Ziegler posted her eighth double-double, her fourth in the last five games with 17 points and 10 rebounds.
• Brugler and Ziegler combined for 19-30 (63.3%) from the field, the Hawks finishing at a 27-56 (48.2%) rate. SJU was just 3-12 (25.0%) from three and 3-7 (42.9%) from the line.
• Katie Jekot added seven assists in the loss, Olivia Mullins finishing with eight points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• George Mason capitalized with 18 points off of 15 turnovers from the Hawks.
• SJU held the lead for just 2:11 on the night, all in the second half.

 
UP NEXT

• The Hawks host Duquesne in the final game of the regular season on Saturday, February 25. Tip is slated for 2 p.m. Prior to the game, the Hawks will honor their lone senior, Jaden Walker in part of the senior day festivities.