Rhode Island Starters 
Phillips, Komara, Dutat, Vital, Kaur 

George Mason Starters 
Brown, Suarez, Walton, Habib, Kaysia

How it Happened
The Rhode Island women's basketball team dropped its second game of the season to George Mason on Wednesday evening, falling 56-44 on the Patriots' home court. 

Rhody (13-13, 8-5 A-10) was outscored by its hosts in every quarter but the second, during which the team did have a 14-8 advantage over George Mason. 

The Patriots (22-3, 12-2 A-10) were able to get their offense going early, building a 17-8 lead by the end of the quarter while the Rams shot a measly 26.7 percent from the floor. 

Towards the end of the opening half, Rhody managed to get some momentum going on the offensive end of the floor when Sophia Vital hit both a three and a layup in the final minutes to cut the Patriots' lead down to 25-22 at the break.

Vital continued to keep Rhody in it after the pause, hitting a three to tie the teams up at 25 points apiece but it was the closest that the visitors got as George Mason had stretched the advantage back out to 10 (40-30) by the end of the third quarter. 

Though the Patriots narrowly outscored Rhode Island by a margin of 16-14 in the fourth quarter, the early woes prevented the Rams from staging a comeback. 

Inside the Box Score

• Guard Sophia Vital led the Rams with 16 points, just one shy of Paula Suarez' game-high of 17.
• She grabbed a career-high seven rebouds while dishing out four assists.
• Forward Anaelle Dutat hauled in 10 boards to go along with nine points and two steals.
• Center Harsimran "Honey" Kaur  grabbed nine rebounds while scoring five points. 
• URI out-rebounded the Patriots, 44-32. 
• Rhode Island shot a season-low 29.3 percent from the floor. 
• The Rams lost 71-65 to George Mason back on Jan. 12. URI still leads the all-time series 7-6. 
• George Mason claimed its 10th consecutive win.

Up Next
The Rams will return home for a 12 p.m. game against La Salle on Saturday, Feb. 15. It will be Rhode Island's senior day.