The George Mason High School varsity girls basketball team opened the second half of its schedule with a 74-32 victory over Strasburg High School last night.

There was little scoring in the first few minutes of the first quarter, and the Lady Mustangs led the Lady Rams 6-2 after three minutes of play. But after sophomore center Ashley Alexander hit two shots from the foul line, the Lady Rams began to relent to an aggressive Lady Mustang defense. The next play, the Lady Rams took the ball down the court and turned it over to Alexander, who drove down the court for a simple lay-up and the romp was on. Alexander scored 10 points, grabbed six rebounds and five steals, and dished out two assists.

The Lady Mustangs finished the first quarter with a 27-11 lead and extended that gap to a 41-18 margin by the end of the first half. In the third quarter, the Lady Mustangs outscored the Lady Rams 19-6 and thwarted any threat of a Strasburg comeback. Senior forward Lauren Kane led the Mustangs in scoring with 18 points, followed by junior forward Stephanie Cheney, who tallied 15 points and grabbed eight rebounds. Alexander, Kane and Cheney all sat out the entire fourth quarter. Freshman guard Ava Roth had a strong all-around game with 10 points, five points and four assists.

The Mason girls team will face Rappahannock County on Friday in the first game of a doubleheader with the Mason boys basketball team.