HENRICO, Va. -- George Mason bested Richmond 60-45 at the 2026 Betterment Atlantic 10 Women's Basketball Championship and in doing so has the opportunity to go for a second consecutive title.
George Mason once again saw its All-Conference First Teamers in Zahirah Walton and Kennedy Harris lead the way. Walton scored 24 points, while grabbing nine rebounds and Harris 18 points.
"I'm just really proud of these young ladies," George Mason coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said. "Hats off to Richmond, it's been really good competition these last couple of years. The ladies were locked in today. We knew we had to come out and be formidable on defense because they have a really good offensive squad. I really thought the ladies were locked in and Za and Ken put the nail in the coffin offensively."
Defensively, the Patriots forced 17 Spiders turnovers, recording 11 steals in the process. This win was George Mason's 20th when leading at halftime.
Richmond had Atlantic 10 Player of the Year Maggie Doogan score 10 points and Alicia Newell had 10 points as well.
"Obviously a really tough one today both personally but also as a program," Richmond head coach Aaron Roussell said. "We wanted this and everybody knows how bad I wanted this for everyone in our program. When it ends it hits hard and doesn't feel good. We know we're a really good team, it wasn't our day today, we just didn't have it. We went against a team that knows us very well. We had a sense it was going to be one of those slugfests, but they made some big shots today and had some players step up. In a make-or-miss sport, it didn't go our way today."
A rather even defensively-centered first quarter started to turn Richmond's way. The Spiders had five different players account for its five baskets. George Mason was held without a basket for the final 3:34 of the period with Aneisha Scott's three-point field goal providing Richmond a 12-8 lead after the first quarter.
George Mason started the second quarter, scoring the first eight points of the period as Richmond went 5:40 without a basket dating back to the first quarter.
It started with Harris's offensive rebound after her initial shot attempt was blocked. Maliyah Johnson's turnaround jump shot provided the Patriots with a four-point lead. George Mason shot 43.8% from the field during the quarter, while also forcing seven turnovers.
Ally Sweeney's driving layup put an end to the skid.
Walton scored six points in the second quarter, scoring in three different ways. First converting a jumper, then a layup and finally sinking a pair of free throws.
Richmond tried to get a defensive stop prior to halftime, to keep the game within a single possession, but Harris's shot caromed off the backboard, before finding the bottom of the net. This provided George Mason with a 24-19 lead.
After Richmond got to within two points nearly two minutes into the third quarter, the Patriots were able to bounce back.
Mary Amoateng missed a jumper, but the rebound bounced back out in her direction. After George Mason moved the basketball, Harris found Amoateng on the move and she took and made a corner three-point shot.
This began a 12-0 run which featured a freshly returned Harris stealing a pass and going the distance of the court. All of a sudden, George Mason was up by 13 points.
"Not letting up, it was knowing the game's not over and to play as hard as possible," determined Walton.
Richmond would respond with Alicia Newell's and-one opportunity, cutting the Patriots edge to nine points.
At that point the Henrico Sports & Events Center reached its loudest volume of the afternoon, as the Richmond fans in attendance tried to will a stop.
Instead, Harris fired a deep two-point shot which put George Mason back on track, leading 43-32 after three quarters.
Much of the fourth quarter was trading baskets as Richmond started to run out of time. Page Greenburg grabbed two crucial rebounds.
"I'm proud that she stayed ready, knowing her number was going to get called," Walton offered. "She went out there and helped us out a lot."
"Before we left Fairfax, we said that everybody had to be ready," added Blair-Lewis. "This is everybody's championship. This is everybody's run, so everybody has to be ready. There was no concern putting Page in, nor would there have been anyone. She knows the impact and what she has to do. She knew you have to rebound, especially this time in the game. Page has stayed ready."
As the clock ran down, the Spiders tried to press, but the ball found Louis Volker who buried a corner three-point basket.
George Mason will advance to the finals where Rhode Island awaits. The game will be televised by ESPN2 and tip off at 4 p.m.
"I think we've been in any type of situation when it comes to any game when it plays," concluded Kennedy. "Now it comes down to using all of that to our advantage and we're prepared."