George Mason Girls Cruise into Semis with 83-43 Win Over Lancaster

Same old opponent, same old result. Stephanie Cheney scored a season high 32 points, and George Mason cruised to an 83-43 win over Lancaster to advance to the Virginia A state semifinals. The win marked the third consecutive year the Mustangs have beaten the Devils in the state tournament, including a decision in last year’s championship game.

Although head coach LaBryan Thomas was unhappy with the defensive performance his team turned in, Mason recorded a steal on seven of Lancaster’s first eight possessions to start the game on a 16-2 run. The Mustangs finished the first half with 15 steals, many of which created easy transition baskets.

Cheney and Lauren Kane each scored 14 points in the first half as the Mustangs established a 48-23 lead going into half-time. The Devils didn’t give up completely, opening the third quarter on a 9-1 run, but only got as close as 21 points. Cheney took over at that point, scoring 11 straight points for the Mustangs, capping her run with a 3-pointer.

“This is the quarterfinals, you can’t let them have runs like that,” Cheney said. “I knew that our team needed a leader to step up, and once one person has high energy, everyone else follows.”

Thomas maintained that the defense left something to be desired, crediting the majority of his team’s takeaways to sloppy play on the other side of the ball. When Lancaster made their run, he knew Cheney would be there to respond.

“Overall, defensively, I was not happy. We struggled on the defensive end,” Thomas said. “I told her [Cheney] ‘this is your team, you’ve got to step up,’ and she did.”

Kane added 16 points, and Leah Roth finished with 11.

The Mustangs now face Radford in the semifinals. The Bobcats won Region C, compiling a 23-4 record along the way. While Thomas hasn’t seen much from his next opponent, he remained diplomatic in his assessment of the Mustangs’ prospects.

“They have a very good young lady [in Maryah Sydnor], she’s a D-I player, and it’s going to be tough,” Thomas said. “We have a week to prepare though.”

The match up against Radford will take place on Friday, March 11 at 12:15 at VCU’s Seigel Center.