The sound of anxious anticipation was broken by thunderous roar of jubilation Sunday night in EagleBank Arena as George Mason Women’s Basketball heard their named called in the NCAA Tournament selection show for the very first time. The team jumped to their feet, as did the fans sitting in the first few rows behind the center-court sideline who were able to see the TV located in front of the players and coaches. The rest of the arena, watching the broadcast on a 20-second delay on the EBA video boards eagerly awaited to see for themselves the moment. And when it came, thunderous chants of “GMU! GMU! GMU!” rang throughout the arena. You see, given it was George Mason’s first time hosting a NCAA Selection Party, everyone wanted to ensure that Mason would not be one of those teams that didn’t react in time when their Zoom feed was shown on the ESPN national broadcast. Sound reasoning, and as amazing as it was to experience that magic moment once, it was even better to experience it twice.
When their name was finally called, all those gathered learned that 11-seed George Mason (27-5, 14-4) would be headed to Baton Rouge, LA for the First Round of the NCAA Tournament to face 6-seed Florida State (23-8, 13-5).
“This is a crazy, surreal feeling,” said senior guard Paula Suárez. “I’m just living in the moment and really excited.”
For the Patriots, making history and breaking barriers has sort of become the new norm the last two seasons. The current team has already won the first conference championship in program history, set the program record for most wins in a season, among a plethora of other records I’ve previously discussed.
“Honestly just playing in it is a blessing in itself,” said graduate student Nalani Kaysia. “As you know, this is history. So just being able to play in this game and being the first time in an NCAA Tournament, just when that first whistle sounds, it’s a lot of excitement.”
After a whirlwind celebration week of interviews with media, appearances at the Men’s A-10 Tournament, there seemed to be some relief in the room shifting the focus back on basketball again. For the coaching staff, it’s right to the film room to start putting together the game plan for the biggest game in George Mason Women’s Basketball history- at least the biggest since the last game they played! Despite all the outside noise, you’d be hard pressed to find a group more composed and more ready for this moment than the one wearing A-10 championship shirts Sunday night.
“Everyone kept saying ‘who are you gonna get,’” said head coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis. “One of them said ‘who is gonna get us?’ They’re very confident.”
George Mason should have every reason to feel confident about this matchup. 6 vs 11 is known to be one of the more popular upsets every year, and Charlie Creme is one of many who have picked George Mason to upset the Seminoles on Saturday. The Patriots are getting national respect from the sportsbooks as well, opening as just a 4.5 point underdog. With all that said, let’s take a closer look at this matchup on paper.
Florida State enters the matchup ranked #22 in the AP Poll and #24 in the Coaches Poll. George Mason’s last win over a ranked opponent came all the way back on December 20, 2002 at #21 George Washington.
The Seminoles are led by the nation’s leading scorer, Ta’Niya Latson, who averages 24.9 points per game. FSU as a team ranks second in the nation in scoring, averaging 87.2 points per game. George Mason themselves are the nation’s 54th best offense, scoring 73.7 points per game. Importantly, the Patriots rank 28th in the nation in scoring defense allowing only 56.7 points per game, while the Seminoles rank 308th surrendering 71.2 points. Most teams might try to approach a team like Florida State by slowing the game down to limit possessions for the high-octane offense. But for George Mason, speeding up the tempo may work in their favor.
That said, let’s take a closer look at Florida State by the numbers. FSU wins a lot of games when they score in the 80s: overall they average 93.1 PPG in games they win, 99.0 PPG in non-conference wins and 88.6 PPG in ACC wins. In games the Seminoles have lost, they have averaged 80.1 PPG, 75.5 PPG in non-conference loses, and 68.3 PPG in ACC loses. But their trend over the course of the season is down, not up, like you would want to be. In non-conference play, Florida State scored over 90 points nine times, and over 100 points five times. However, since February 6, the Noles are only averaging 70.1 PPG and have only eclipsed 80 points twice. In fact, after taking down #3 Notre Dame 86-81 on February 27, FSU only scored 57 and 56 points in their final two games.
All that said, no matter the outcome on Saturday night in Baton Rouge, this team has already cemented themselves as the greatest team in program history. Making the NCAA Tournament was a dream that seemed impossibly far away just four years ago. Sunday night at EagleBank Arena, it became a reality, officially.
“Honestly just having another game, having another opportunity to keep winning games, keep breaking records for this school, and just playing,” said Paula Suárez. The co-captain from Spain was visibly giddy with excitement, smiling from ear to ear. I asked her jokingly if she had ever been to Louisiana before, and she laughed, replying “I have not, I don’t even know where it is.”
Nalani Kaysia, on the other hand, was thrilled to be headed to the bayou. “I love Louisiana! Can’t wait to get some beignets, I can’t wait to hear the music! I just am super duper excited to be in Louisiana!”
George Mason will face Florida State at 7:45 ET/6:45 CT on Saturday night on ESPN2 at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center. I will be on location covering this remarkable team that has helped me achieve my own personal dream of going to the NCAA Tournament with “my team” for the very first time. No matter what happens, this team’s legacy is forever immortalized.
“I’m super excited to go to Louisiana and make some noise for Mason,” said Nalani Kaysia. “Now that everything has come out, we know who our opponent is, it’s time to go to work. It’s time to get back hit the ground running and continue to scout and practice and get ready for our game that’s coming up on Saturday.”
Daniel Frank is an alum of George Mason University. The 2025 season marks their 10th season at A10Talk, where they are proud to be the content lead for Women’s Basketball coverage, as well as a senior contributor for Men’s Basketball content. In addition, this season will be Daniel’s 26th year following GW basketball, and their 8th following George Mason. You can follow Daniel on X, formerly known as Twitter, @n1a2v3y4.
