Marshall Women’s Basketball dropped its third game of the season against the George Mason Patriots 69-56 in the Cam Henderson Center on Sunday, Nov. 17.

The Herd trailed the entire game but cut the Patriots lead to one point during the second half. The comeback attempt melted away, resulting in the double-digit loss.

Aislynn Hayes led the Herd’s scoring attack with 16 points. Senior Madison Kellione set her personal best for the Herd with 14 points. 

“We really like playing off of our defense,” Kellione said. “When we get steals and we get blocks and our teammates get excited, that energizes us as a team. We are then motivated to go down on offense and capitalize as a team. I think always keeping that in mind – that your defense is going to lead to good offense – is a good way to play.”

Marshall tied the game in the fourth at 53 points but fell victim to a 16-3 run from the Patriots.

The defense shined bright during the game, forcing 24 turnovers and scoring 17 points off takeovers. 

The Herd struggled offensively, only scoring five points in the final quarter of the contest. 

“We’ve got to figure out a way to finish the final minute of the second quarter and the fourth quarter,” head coach Juli Fulks said. “We will continue taking a look at that. We have been great in the first and the third. I know they were ahead, but I thought we played well and just missed a couple shots. We’re having really good starts to halves, and we’ve got to figure out a way to finish them.”  

George Mason dominated the paint, out-rebounding the Herd 47-29. The rebound differential led to 26 points in the paint by the Patriots.

“This is a game we were really looking forward to because George Mason is a really high-level team,” Fulks said. “We knew that collectively, we would have to be really good on defense because there was not just one person you could key-in on; they do a really good job as a group.”

The Herd will take to the road to face the Penn State Nittany Lions on Thursday, Nov. 21, in the Inaugural WBCA Showcase at the ESPN Wide World of Sports in Orlando.

Joseph DiCristofaro can be contacted at [email protected].