Women's basketball falls to GMU on basket in final seconds

[PonyPride]

From SMUMustangs.com:

Mustangs Fall On Late Bucket To George Mason

DALLAS (SMU) – SMU closed non-conference play with a tough 59-58 loss to George Mason on Tuesday afternoon inside Moody Coliseum.

After erasing a 14-point edge, SMU held a lead into the final minutes before George Mason canned a turn-around jumper to put the Patriots ahead by one with 16 seconds to go. The Mustangs came agonizingly close to the game-winning bucket but couldn't find the bottom of the net as time expired.

Reagan Bradley finished with a career high 18 points while also adding three steals and five assists. The freshman enters conference play as the conference leader in assists-per-game. Kayla White scored a season high 17 including 5-of-6 shooting in the second half.

George Mason (6-7) started strong jumping out to a quick 11-0 lead aided by a trio of three-pointers. The Patriots extended the lead to as many as 14 in the first quarter.

SMU (6-6) kept George Mason off the scoreboard for over five minutes in the second period allowing the Mustangs to string together a 10-0 scoring run. Reagan Bradley's bucket at the buzzer made it a one-point game at the half.

After a back-and-forth third quarter, George Mason led by three heading into the fourth.

Paige Bayliss' and-one with 6:43 left tied the game up for the first time. Bayliss followed it up with the go-ahead bucket. It was the start of a 10-0 run that sent SMU up by seven with 3:08 to play. After a George Mason bucket cut it to five, a Bradley three pushed the Mustangs to their largest lead of 8.

George Mason scored the final nine points of the ball game including seven by Nicole Cardano-Hillary. The turnaround jumper by Camarie Gatling with 16 seconds left proved to be the difference in the game.

Bayliss reached double-figure scoring for the second consecutive game, finishing with 11 and six boards. JaQuia White continued her strong stretch with a 7-point, 4-steal performance. White, Bradley and Amber Bacon all finished with 5 assists.

The SMU defense forced a season high 24 turnovers and allowed just eight second chance points. The Mustangs were out-rebounded for just the third time this season.

The Mustangs enter American Athletic Conference play on Sunday as they host No. 1 UConn for a 3 p.m. tip.