FAIRFAX, Va. – Marika Korpinen and a balanced George Mason attack held on against a resilient Longwood women's basketball squad on Tuesday night. Longwood rallied to erase a 16-point second-half deficit, but the Patriots closed out the game to win 77-65.
 
Five players scored in double figures for George Mason, with Korpinen leading the way with 19 points and 12 rebounds to stave off the furious Lancer rally. Tra'Dayja Smith led the Lancer push, notching 17 points while Anne-Hamilton LeRoy added 15 points and Kyla McMakin notched 14 of her own.
 
With George Mason holding a 16-point lead with 3:02 to play in the third quarter, Anne-Hamilton LeRoy caught fire for Longwood. The sophomore guard poured in 10 straight points for the second straight game to pull Longwood within eight, 56-48, to end the third quarter. Her 15 points marked her second straight game in double-digits.
 
Senior point guard Tra'Dayja Smith, a member of the Nancy Lieberman Preseason Watch List, picked up where LeRoy left off in the fourth. She scored five of her 17 points to go with a key steal during a 9-1 run in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter. Trailing 57-55, she deflected a pass to Kyla McMakin, who returned it to Smith as she finished an impressive reverse layup to tie the game at 57-57 with 6:55 to play. Smith finished the night with a team-high 17 points, four assists and three steals.
 
The Patriots closed the game by hitting five of their final eight shots to secure the win and stem the Longwood surge.
 
"Our women have a tremendous amount of fight in them," said Longwood head coach Rebecca Tillett. "They really want to get a different outcome. What we talked about a lot coming into this game was to play with the freedom of what can go right, and I think that is something we need to stay focused on.
 
"I come from a coaching family, and there is a saying that, 'everything we do is preparation for conference,' and that is what we are trying to do right now, is get all these different looks in non-conference play and be ready to go when we tip-off in the Big South. I loved our fight down the stretch—we really heated things up and I think we have to stay the course with that."
 
The hot finish bookended a game that saw George Mason start the game on fire from beyond the arc, hitting seven of their first nine three-point attempts. The Patriots hit 9-13 overall from distance in the first half. Six different Patriots hit a three, and five different players scored in double figures.
  
Lancer forward Akila Smith, who was named Big South Player of the week after notching back-to-back double-doubles In Longwood's opening two games, barely missed out on another, grabbing a game-high 14 rebounds with eight points. Smith was the first Lancer to open a season with consecutive double-doubles since Marita Meldere in 2002-03—Meldere went on to be named Virginia State Player of the Year and an All-America honorable mention.
 
Reigning Big South Freshman of the Year Kyla McMakin did a little bit of everything on Tuesday night, ending with 14 points, five boards, three assists, three steals and two blocks despite a cold night shooting. Off the bench, senior Allysah "Cookie" Boothe hit two of her four shots for five points and Mallory Odell grabbed a season-high seven rebounds across 16 minutes.
 
"I don't think anyone has even seen our offense at its best yet," added Tillett. "I think it will be at its best when we have five women being hard to guard. Kyla is a phenomenal player for us, and she is going to work through this and we are going to help her do it. Meet us on the other side, everyone."
 
The Lancers final tune-up before beginning Big South Conference plays comes on Saturday, Dec. 5 when they return to Farmville to square off with Towson. Play is set to begin at 3 p.m., and will be broadcast on ESPN+.
 
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