Women’s Basketball’s Fourth Quarter Rally Falls Flat in 59-54 Loss at George Mason

Beginning their two-game trip to the DMV, Loyola women’s basketball dropped a tight 59-54 loss to reigning Atlantic 10 champions George Mason University. Second-year guard Alexa Kinas supplied 17 points and seven rebounds for the Ramblers, while Patriots redshirt third-year Zahirah Walton had a game high 25 points, along with three steals.

Both teams started ice cold from the field, each going scoreless for the first minute of the game before Walton hit a jumper and the following foul shot to kickstart an 8-0 run. Graduate guard Hawa Komara knocked down a jump shot, followed by a 3-pointer from third-year forward Louis Volker to put Loyola in an early eight-point hole. 

First-year guard and forward Alex-Anne Bessette got the Rambler finally on the board over three minutes into the quarter after being fouled in the paint by Komara and hitting both shots at the stripe. Volker immediately matched with a jump shot, and it took Loyola nearly two minutes to get their next points, coming off another two foul shots for Bessette.

Neither team could buy a bucket for the next two minutes until third-year guard Rosalie Mercille knocked down a three, which was met with a jumper from George Mason’s fourth-year guard Jada Brown. Brown fouled second-year forward Roisin Grandberry on the ensuing possession, where she made a shot at the line to cut the Patriot lead to 12-8.

George Mason struck back with two free throws of their own, courtesy of first-year guard Mary Amoateng. With a minute to go, Mercille hit one shot at the free throw line to end the quarter with George Mason ahead 14-9.

Third-year guard Audrey Deptula opened the second quarter for Loyola on a jumper, which was matched by third-year Patriot guard Kennedy Harris. Redshirt third-year guard Page Greenburg tacked on a 3-pointer, followed by a floater from Walton and a layup from Greenburg to give George Mason ta 12 point lead at 23-11, as Loyola remained scoreless for over five minutes.

Deptula broke the nine-point run after being fouled on a 3-point attempt, knocking down all three shots at the line. Walton kept the Patriots’ momentum with a layup before a Kinas layup and a fast break 3-pointer off a block from second-year forward Brooklyn Vaughn, cutting the lead to six. 

Redshirt second-year forward Trinity Massenburg hit consecutive layups, offset by one from Bessette to keep George Mason up eight. Vaughn sank two free throws to end the half with the Ramblers trailing 29-23.

It took nearly two minutes for the first point of the second half to be scored, courtesy of two free throws from Kinas. Those points were quickly met with a Patriot rally, started by a Harris three and followed by a Walton floater, and three free throws on the following possession for Walton to open up the lead to 37-25. 

It took until five minutes were left in the third quarter for Loyola to make their first field goal on a fastbreak layup from fourth-year guard Kira Chivers. Grandberry followed it with another in the paint to put the Ramblers back within eight. 

Amoateng made a layup, followed by two more free throws from Kinas and five more points from Walton on a layup and fastbreak three. Kinas met the 3-pointer with one of her own before graduate guard Alexus Mobley tacked on a three. Volker made a jumper for the final basket of the quarter with under a minute to go as the Patriots held a 46-37 advantage.

Harris hit a three to open the quarter for George Mason, followed by a Mobley layup. Walton gave the Patriots their largest lead of the game with five straight points off two free throws and a three-point play after being fouled on a jumper to make it 54-39.

The Rambler defense locked in from there, holding the Patriots scoreless for seven minutes as they mounted their comeback. It started with a jumper from Bessette, a free throw from second-year guard Kendall Hendrix and a Bessette layup to cut the deficit to ten.

Mobley and Kinas tacked on jumpers before Kinas connected on a three to make it 54-51 with just over two minutes remaining. Misses from Kinas and Bessette fumbled away Loyola’s chance to take the lead as they were forced to foul Walton with 27 seconds remaining.

Walton sank both shots before Kinas turned the ball over, forcing Loyola to foul Amoateng who also made both shots. A three from Mercille was too little too late, as a Walton free throw capped a 59-54 Patriots win.

Despite the loss, head coach Allison Guth was proud of Loyola’s defensive effort in the loss.

“We had a really exciting game here tonight,” Guth said. “We held them to 59 points when they average 72, so we were really proud of our defensive effort. We had opportunities to win this thing in the fourth quarter, but we came up short.”

The Ramblers will wrap up their road trip in Washington, D.C., as they face George Washington University Jan. 17 at 1 p.m. Streaming will be available on ESPN+.