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Mitchell Richtmyre/Fourth Estate

The Patriots handled Monmouth to set up a crucial road trip

BY GABRIEL KING, CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Mason women’s basketball defeated Monmouth 89-66 on Tuesday at EagleBank Arena to improve to 3-0 on the season. After three straight home wins, the Patriots will play six of their next seven games away from home.

Sophomore guard Kennedy Harris has led the way for the Patriots, averaging 14.7 points in three games and shooting 50% from the field. Against Monmouth, Harris scored a team-high 20 points and made a career-high seven free throws.

“I just took the opportunities,” Harris said. “It’s just another chance for me to score easily at the free throw line.” 

Along with Harris’ strong start, the Patriots have used a balanced attack to smother their opponents. Six Patriots are averaging at least eight points this season, including Harris, graduate student guard Ta’Viyanna Habib and graduate student forward Nalani Kaysia all averaging double figures.

“I think this year, the depth that we have, where it can be anybody’s night… I think that’s what’s going to make us really special,” Head Coach Vanessa Blair-Lewis said.

The Patriots won their first three games by an average of 33 points, the second-best scoring margin in the Atlantic 10. Mason has been able to grow their leads with disruptive defense, as they’ve forced 72 turnovers this season, good for first in the A-10.

While Mason’s defense has been stout, the Patriots have not gone without their occasional struggles. Mason’s opponents have scored at least 20 points in three quarters, including the third and fourth quarters against Monmouth. The Hawks scored 21 points in the third quarter and 20 in the fourth to put some pressure on the Patriots. 

“I just think that there were just some lulls in our defensive commitment tonight,” Blair-Lewis said. “I think that we could definitely do better.” 

In a seven-game stretch that includes three games against power conference opponents, the Patriots will need to play stellar defense to pick up resume-building wins.

The Patriots may be without Kaysia for the road trip. The graduate student left Tuesday’s win with an undisclosed injury.

Mason’s road swing starts at Marshall University on Nov. 17 at 6:00 p.m. The Patriots defeated the Thundering Herd 84-77 at home last season. Mason will then head south for a matchup with Atlantic Coast Conference foe Wake Forest on Nov. 20 in a nationally televised game on ACC Network.

The Patriots return home on Nov. 26, hosting Blair-Lewis’ alma mater Mount St. Mary’s at 7:00 p.m. Student tickets are available through Mason360.

Melanie Jensen/Fourth Estate

BY MELANIE JENSEN, STAFF WRITER

Walking through Wilkins Plaza on Oct. 29, students may have noticed a group praying on the grass outside the Johnson Center. These students represent a small number of the Muslim community on Mason’s Fairfax campus asking for a permanent and adequate space to practice their religion. 

On Nov. 3, the Muslim Student Association (MSA) and Mason Student Government appealed to the Mason administration in an Instagram post, asking the administration to find a permanent and appropriate prayer space for Muslim students on campus. The call to action came after fire marshals closed the designated prayer and meditation space on the third floor of the Johnson Center on Oct. 16. 

Fire marshals deemed the room divider and the high occupancy of the meditation room a fire hazard, leaving hundreds of students and faculty without a space for their daily prayers. The room was reconfigured and temporarily reopened on Oct. 21, but MSA officers said the reconfiguration made the space unsuitable for students’ religious needs. MSA invited female students to continue to use the space, while male students prayed on the grass in front of the Johnson Center on Wilkins Plaza.

“Muslim students had no choice but to complete their congregation of daily prayers outdoors in Wilkins Plaza and have temporarily returned to the JC space, both of which have been undignified and inadequate solutions due to a lack of administrative support,” MSA said in a joint statement with the Cuesta-McAulay administration and Mason Student Government on Instagram. 

In the statement, MSA demanded that Mason administration provide an adequate space for daily prayer and other religious activities and establish a formal line of communication to address current and future concerns. MSA requested that Mason administration actively support Mason’s Muslim community in an effort to maintain Mason’s mission of celebrating diversity. 

According to MSA, the student organization has been asking for a larger and more suitable prayer space to accommodate students’ religious needs for years. Some students expressed feelings of disaffection and being ignored due to Mason administration’s “lack of urgency” to address their requests.

“This has only heightened feelings of alienation amongst Muslim students at a time when incidents of harassment and discrimination have largely gone unaddressed by the university, which has contributed to the degradation of the political climate on campus,” MSA said in the statement. 

On Nov. 9, MSA shared a petition with a list of requests. “As the political climate intensifies and discrimination against Muslim communities grows, it is critical that the university recognizes and supports its Muslim students,” said MSA in the petition statement. MSA asked the Mason community to sign in support of the “over 1,650 members” of their organization. 

“We urge the university to prioritize the establishment of appropriate prayer facilities that reflect the dignity and respect that all students deserve–no community should feel the lack of support that Muslim students currently do,” MSA said.

Fourth Estate reached out to Mason for comment but have yet to hear back.