Head Coach Michael Shafer and his staff at the University of Richmond devised a plan and sent their defensive specialist, Lauren Tolson, onto the court to stop George Mason's Taylor Brown, who averaged 23.5 points per game coming into Sunday's noon matinee against the Spiders at the Robins Center. By game's end, a disappointed Brown left with her lowest point total of the season, 10, as Richmond stymied her, and, by extension, the Patriot offense, en route to a 77-49 Atlantic 10 victory.
"What we tried to do was make her a one-directional player," Shafer said after the game. "In whatever area we were going to be in, we were going to be there, make her go one direction, and have help there."
Tolson spearheaded the defensive charge, limiting Brown to a 3-of-15 shooting performance from the field. The Patriots, who feed off Brown, struggled as a whole, shooting 35.7% for the game, while the Spiders were 25-of-54 from the floor, and, more importantly, 21-of-23 at the free throw line. George Mason, who usually gets to the line about 30 times per game, only made three of ten shots from the line.
Tolson and teammate Janelle Hubbard led Richmond (2-2, 10-7), each with 18 points, while Liz Brown added 15, Olivia Healy had 12 and Genevieve Okoro tallied 11. Rebounding was also a key for Richmond, as Hubbard, Tolson and Healy combined for 17 rebounds from the guard position, helping the Spiders outrebound the Patriots 41-28.
"I think my defense feeds my offense," Tolson explained. "Getting stops and knowing I'm guarding very good players gives me motivation to step up, hit threes, and get my teammates involved."
The Patriots fell to 3-2 in conference play, 11-7 overall, and head coach Nyla Milleson saw today as one more dip in a long road, as this team, and the program, continue to seek cohesiveness and identity as their ascension in the Atlantic 10 continues. Many quickly forget this is only the second season for George Mason in the conference.
"We're still trying to understand, day in and day out, possession in and possession out, and with that process comes some inconsistency," Milleson noted. "Today, give Richmond a lot of credit. They took us out of the flow of our offense. I thought our guarding wasn't too bad, but they hit some tough shots the first half, and then we give up 23 free throws."
The Spiders came out strong, taking an early 14-4 lead in the first six minutes. The Patriots cut the lead to five on four occasions before intermission, but no lower. A Hubbard trey at the buzzer made the halftime margin ten at 34-24.
"What I was most pleased with was not the start of the game, but the way we started the second half," Shafer said. "We've really struggled in the second half. We've let people back into games, and I didn't think we did that tonight."
The Spiders opened the second half with an 8-2 run in the first 92 seconds. What turned out to be George Mason's final run followed, cutting the lead to seven at 42-35, but Richmond roared to another run of 11-0, the lead was 18 with 13:12 left. Richmond kept the Patriots well at bay the remainder of the game.
Richmond travels to Davidson, who won their first-ever Atlantic 10 conference game Sunday over Saint Louis, for a 7pm game Wednesday, then return to the Robins Center to face UMass Saturday at 2pm.
George Mason, meanwhile, is off until Saturday, when they host Rhode Island at 2pm, before returning to Richmond to face VCU next Wednesday, January 28th, at 7pm.
LOCAL NOTE: Micaela Parson, graduate from Monacan (pictured below), converted on a three-point play in the game's final seconds.
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