HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) - Fresh off its largest margin of victory in three seasons, Old Dominion's women's basketball team received its biggest shock on Sunday: it lost a Colonial Athletic Association game - its first in 114 outings.
Nadine Morgan scored 16 points and pulled down 13 rebounds and Allyson Keener added 13 points as James Madison (16-7, 9-3 CAA) edged the Monarchs 49-48 Sunday afternoon, killing Old Dominion's winning streak - the nation's longest conference victory streak - at 113 games.
The Monarchs (15-8, 11-1) appeared to be hitting on all cylinders going into the contest. They were fresh off an 83-32 drubbing of N.C.-Wilmington, and prior to that they had knocked off tough conference rivals George Mason, 73-64.
In the end, Old Dominion could not overcome the Dukes' stingy defense, however. The Monarchs shot a miserable 29.8 percent for the game, hit only 10 of 22 free throws, and went 4 of 17 from long range.
ODU's Okeisha Howard, the conference's second-leading scorer at 15 ppg, was held to just six points on 3 of 12 shooting, including 0-5 from 3-point land.
The Dukes' Hollee Franklin controlled the paint, tallying five blocks, and James Madison outrebounded their opponents 48-37.
ODU found itself in trouble from the start, as James Madison jumped out to an 8-0 lead. The Monarchs came back and trailed 18-17 at the break, but James Madison controlled the pace.
Old Dominion seized the lead briefly early in the second half, but Allyson Keener sank two free throws at the 17:37 mark to give the Dukes a 22-21 lead, and they never relinquished it.
Morgan's jumper with 6:58 left gave James Madison a 47-39 advantage, the Dukes' largest lead of the second half, but then Old Dominion stormed back.
Sharron Francis, ODU's leading scorer with 13, made six free throws in the last five minutes to bring the score to 49-48, but she missed a game-tying free throw with 41 seconds left and James Madison held on for the win.
Ironically, James Madison was the last CAA team to beat Old Dominion, mastering the Monarchs 87-80 in Harrisonburg in Feb. 1995.