Photo Courtesy of Bob Burleigh

NEWARK, DE -- Another poor shooting performance was too much for the University of Delaware to overcome as the Blue Hens dropped a 52-42 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball verdict to George Mason Sunday afternoon at the Bob Carpenter Center.

Delaware set a program record by shooting just 19.6 percent from the field, breaking the record of 20.3 percent set just two weeks ago vs. Old Dominion, as the Hens (6-17, 5-6 CAA) had a two-game winning streak snapped.

The Hens, who were impressive at the foul line as they hit on 20 of 26 shots, converted just 11 of 56 shots from the field for the game and misfired on all 15 three-point attempts.

Freshman guard Vanessa Kabongo led the Hens with 11 points and six rebounds while freshman forward Ariene Jenkins added 10 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Kyle DeHaven (at right) added 10 points, seven rebounds, and seven steals.

DeHaven, who leads the nation in steals per game with 4.8 per contest, reached the 400 career steal mark in the second half, becoming just the third player in CAA history to reach the milestone. She also established a UD single season steal mark with 103, breaking the mark of 100 by former teammate and current WNBA player Tyresa Smith in 2004-05.

"As hungry as we were against VCU (at 42-37 win Thursday), we weren't hungry today,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin. “We did not come ready to battle on the boards. Our front line didn't get after it today, which is disappointing because they know they're capable of playing hard and fighting on the boards. George Mason won the game due to rebounding, which is something we had done very well the last two or three games. We had a chance to get above .500 in the league with this young group, so the loss really hurts."

George Mason (9-13, 3-8 CAA), which snapped a four-game losing streak, overcame 30 turnovers as the Patriots got 15 points and six rebounds from Lateisha Wade, who reached double figures for points for the fifth time in the last six games, and nine points and seven rebounds from Jessica Smith.

George Mason hit on 10 of 20 shots in the first half to jump out to a nine-point halftime lead and finished the day converting 44.7 percent of its shots (17 of 38) and holding a commanding 43-31 rebounding advantage on the way to the victory. George Mason avenged a 64-49 loss to Delaware earlier this season in Fairfax, VA and snapped a personal eight-game losing streak to the Hens that dated back to 2003-04.

Delaware stayed close for most of the first half as the Hens hit on 15 of 17 shots from the line, but 4 of 26 shooting from the field eventually led to the Patriots taking a 32-23 lead into intermission thanks to a 13-6 run over the final seven minutes.

The Blue Hens cut the lead to five in the first minute of the second half on a layup by Ethlynne Thomas, but Delaware could never get closer than seven points the rest of the way. Delaware managed to pull to within 45-37 with 7:25 left, but Sha’Ron Harrison missed three free throws in a 30-second span that could have narrowed the gap to five.

George Mason’s Casey Quigley came right back with a three-pointer to up the Patriot lead to 48-38 seconds later and Delaware could never recover. Smith then hit four straight free throws in the final 2:32 for George Mason to preserve the winning margin.

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