TOWSON, Md. ? Shanae Baker-Brice scored a game-high 21 points to help lead the Tigers to a 67-52 win over George Mason on Thursday night at the Towson Center. The Tigers (15-9, 7-7 CAA) won their second straight game as Baker-Brice combined with Haliena Snowden to score 35 points in the contest.
“I thought it was a solid all-around effort for us tonight,” said Coach Joe Mathews. “We got contributions from our starters, Dovile Miliauskaite and Jessica Haywood gave us quality minutes off the bench as well.”
With the game tied at 5-5 with 16:32 to go in the first half, Towson scored six unanswered points to take an 11-5 lead. The Patriots responded by scoring five straight points of their own to make it an 11-10 game with 8:28 to go in the first half. The two teams would trade buckets before Brittany Eley's jumper at 5:37 tied the game at 14-14. Towson would scored 13 of the final 16 points in the half to take a 27-17 lead into the locker room. Baker-Brice knocked down eight of the Tigers' points during that stretch.
The Tigers would score the first seven points of the half to increase their lead to 34-17 with 17:54 to play. George Mason would hit back-to-back buckets to make it a 34-21 game with 15:57 to play. The two teams would trade buckets over the next three minutes as the Tigers' lead would fluctuate between 14 and 16 points. Miliauskaite would hit a lay-up at 11:02 to make it a 43-26 game and give the Tigers their largest lead of the game at that point. George Mason would then go on an 8-3 run to make it a 46-34 game with 8:57 to play. That would be as close as the Patriots would get the rest of the way. Towson would score seven of the next 11 points to go ahead 57-36 with 4:35 to play. The Tigers' run was capped by a pair of free throws from Haywood. Brandy Black would connect on a three-pointer at 3:57 to put the home team up 60-38 and give them their largest lead of the game. The two teams would trade buckets over the final 3:40 with Becky Cox scoring the final bucket of the game to make it a 67-52 margin.
Baker-Brice's 21 points was her sixth 20+ point performance of the season. She would also add three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Snowden finished with 14 points, just two shy of her career-high. Haywood contributed a career-high nine points to go along with four rebounds. Black matched her career-high with seven points while Omara Parker had seven points and six rebounds.
Brittney Wilkins led the Patriots with 19 points while Cox contributed 11 points. Brittany Poindexter led George Mason on the boards with nine rebounds and also collected nine points.
The Tigers return to action on Sunday, February 22 when Delaware visits the Towson Center. Tip time in Towson is set for 2 p.m.
