AMHERST - The Sharon Dawley era began in disappointing fashion as the University of Massachusetts women's basketball team saw a seven-point lead slip away in the second half as the Minutewomen fell to George Mason, 60-55, Friday at the Mullins Center.

Senior Cerie Mosgrove led UMass with 17 points and six rebounds. Shakia Robinson added 12 points and eight boards. Megan Zullo set a Mullins Center record with 13 assists.

"There was a lot of good. We don't like to lose, but we're a team in a place where we need to grow a little bit more," Dawley said. "I saw a lot of fight. I thought we played great coming out of halftime. ... I like our intensity. I like our work ethic. I like our spirit."

Dawley started her UMass tenure without her top returning player as Jasmine Watson, last year's Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, is out with a knee injury and will likely miss at least a few early games.

"We need to come together to make up for the loss of Jas," Dawley said.

UMass led 44-37 with 7:33 left, but the Patriots went on a 14-2 run to take control.

After Friday's game, the Minutewomen (0-1) hit the road for five straight. After a road game at Providence at 2 p.m. Sunday, they'll head to the Anaconda Sports "The Rock" SHU Classic at Seton Hall in New York City, where they'll face Louisiana State (Nov. 19) and Seton Hall (Nov. 21). UMass will stay on the tournament circuit, heading to the East Carolina Thanksgiving Tournament to play Maryland (Nov. 27) and East Carolina (Nov. 28) before returning home to face Brown on Dec. 1.

Matt Vautour can be reached at mvautour@gazettenet.com. Follow UMass coverage on Twitter at twitter.com/GazetteUMass. Get UMass coverage delivered in your Facebook news feed at http://www.facebook.com/GazetteUMassCoverage.