Feb. 1, 2007
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- No. 25 James Madison remained undefeated in Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) action as they defeated the Old Dominion women's basketball team, 79-50, to snap the Lady Monarchs' nine-game winning streak.
The loss drops the Lady Monarchs to 12-8 overall and 8-1 in CAA play. It was the largest margin of defeat in CAA play since entering the league in the 1991-92 season and suffering a 57-71 loss at East Carolina. The Dukes meanwhile improve to 18-2 overall and 10-0 in league play extending their win streak to 10 and home win streak to 22.
James Madison opened the game on a 12-0 run and never looked back. The Dukes held a double digit advantage most of the first half, leading by as many as 14, however the Lady Monarchs managed to close the gap towards the end. With James Madison leading 31-20 with 4:07 remaining in the half, Old Dominion cut its deficit to six with five unanswered points. JMU's Jasmine Lawrence broke the Dukes' scoring drought with 12 seconds left for the final points of the half putting James Madison up, 33-25.
The second half started out just like the first half did, however this time Old Dominion did not make a late half run. James Madison outscored Old Dominion 46-25 in the second half limiting the Lady Monarchs to just nine field goals and 20.5 percent shooting from the floor.
Sophomore Jazzmin Walters (Norfolk, Va.) connected on a jumper at the 18:45 mark bringing the score to 37-27, but the Lady Monarch deficit would rise from there. Following the Walters' bucket, James Madison took a 30-7 run with only senior Tish Lyons (Newport News, Va.) and freshman Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) hitting a field goal apiece with the Lady Monarchs' other three points coming from the line. The Dukes' Shirley McCall recorded a jumper with 7:19 left in the game to give James Madison its largest lead of the game, a 33-point 67-34 lead.
Lyons and sophomore Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) led the Lady Monarchs with 10 points each. Green also hauled in a team-high eight rebounds.
For James Madison, CAA leading scorer Meredith Alexis went 11-of-12 from the free throw line en-route to a game-high 21 points. Tamera Young notched a double-double with 15 points and 10 boards. Shirley McCall also collected 15 points in the JMU victory.
The Old Dominion women's basketball team returns to action on Sunday when they travel to Hofstra to close out the season series with the Pride.