The third game of the GCI Great Alaska Shootout proved to be the closest yet.
The George Mason women's basketball team beat Pepperdine 71-63 Wednesday at the Alaska Airlines Center in a game that was close until the Patriots extended their lead with a series of free throws at the end. George Mason finished third in the four-team tournament.
Patriots guard Kara Wright iced the game with three consecutive free throws and finished with a team-high 20 points. She also had a game-high four assists for George Mason's guard-heavy lineup.
"I thought we really stayed together, kept our composure," George Mason coach Nyla Milleson said of her team's fourth quarter play. "We're struggling right now to shoot the basketball, but we got to the line and made them there."
George Mason (2-4) made more free throws at the end, but Pepperdine (1-5) actually finished with better stats from the charity stripe. The Waves went 20 of 24 from the line, with 10 coming from guard Erica Ogwumike. The 5-foot-9 sophomore finished with 20 points and 18 rebounds to lead Pepperdine.
George Mason's trip to Anchorage came in the middle of an 11-day, four-game road trip. The team lost last Friday at Utah, played two games at the Shootout this week and travels to UNLV for a Saturday showdown.
Even with the crazy schedule, the Patriots still found time to enjoy their time in Anchorage.
"We went to the glacier, the wildlife center, the zoo," Milleson said. "I've done this long enough to know how important these kind of things are, this time spent together."