By Dave Johnson
W&M Athletics
 
Having been on the wrong end of a one-sided first half, William & Mary turned a 21-point deficit into a five-point game in the final minute. But the hole was too big, and there wasn't enough time, for the Tribe to complete the job.

Despite Riley Casey matching her career high of 31 points, 26 coming in the second half, George Mason held on for a 71-61 win Monday night in Fairfax. W&M (2-2) trailed 52-31 with 2:55 remaining in the third quarter, but went on a 29-13 run from there.

After Madison Magee's two free throws made it 65-60 with 47 seconds remaining, the Patriots went 6-of-6 from the free throw line to put it away.

Although it still ended up being a loss, Tribe coach Erin Dickerson Davis felt much better after the game than she did at halftime.

"When we got into the locker room at halftime, it definitely was not pretty," Davis said. "We talked about our effort level, our focus level, our discipline level — everything was just incredibly low. Which was disappointing because we focused on starting the game off well.

"But we regrouped and decided we were going to fight and not just lay down. I told them after the game, 'I'm super proud of you guys for not giving up or sulking. That's the culture we're trying to build here, and let's not ever forget that.'"

However …

"I reminded them about my disappointment in the first half," she said. "That's not who we are. But we're learning now. We're going to hit bumps and bruises, but we've bought in. We're going to get there."

Casey's 31 points were the most in her 29 games at William & Mary and matched the career high she set three years ago as a sophomore at Columbia against Hampton University. She was 8-of-11 from the field, 4-of-6 from the 3-point arc, in the second half.

George Mason no doubt remembered Casey. A year ago, almost to the day, she scored 10 of her 20 points in overtime to lead the Tribe to a 65-54 win over the Patriots.

"We have to keep switching Riley from the point to the two guard mainly because they're denying so hard on the wings when she doesn't have the ball in her hands," Davis said. "So we put Riley in at the point guard and allowed her to have the ball and make things happen.

"When Riley is being aggressive, she makes great things happen for herself and her teammates. I'm just super proud of her for bouncing back. She really came through and stepped up in that second half."

Sydney Wagner added 18 points, nine in each half, on 5-of-15 shooting. Magee finished with eight points (4-of-5 from the free throw line) and seven rebounds.

W&M shot 34.5% from the field and 32% (8-of-25) from the 3-point arc. Mason owned the boards 40-26 but had only a 4-1 advantage in second-chance points. After turning the ball over nine times in the first half, the Tribe added only four the rest of the way — none in the fourth quarter.

George Mason led 65-48 with 3:38 remaining, but the Tribe wouldn't go away. Over the next 2½ minutes, W&M outscored the Patriots 12-0 behind six points from Casey, four from Wagner, and two from Magee.

But from there, GMU (3-3) was automatic at the free throw line and the Tribe missed its final four field goal attempts.

The night couldn't have started much worse for the Tribe, which missed its first 10 shots from the floor and trailed 8-0 midway through the first quarter. On 2-of-14 shooting, W&M trailed 16-5 at the end of the first quarter.

With a 4-0 start to the second, the Tribe cut the Patriots' lead to 16-8. But Mason responded with a 12-0 run to extend the margin to 20.

W&M outscored George Mason in the second half 42-33 on 40% shooting, 14-of-17 accuracy from the free throw line and four turnovers.

William & Mary's next game is scheduled for Sunday afternoon against Army in Kaplan Arena. Tip-off is 1 p.m.