HARRISONBURG, Va. - Old Dominion women’s basketball fell behind in the first quarter against James Madison and never recovered as the Dukes came away with a 77-55 win on Wednesday night at the Atlantic Union Bank Center.
"Giving up the amount of offensive rebounds we did to JMU will never put you in a place of success,” said ODU head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones. "We fell short greatly tonight and must be better versus App State on Friday to solidify the sixth seed in the standings."
Old Dominion (17-13, 8-9 SBC) opened the game strong on a 5-0 run with baskets from Simone Cunningham, Nevaeh Scott, and Riley Stack went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe in the first two minutes of action. James Madison (22-8, 13-4 SBC) responded with a made bucket plus the foul by Grace McDonough. She converted the free throw and ODU’s Simaru Fields scored a driving layup to put ODU up by four, 7-3.
JMU knotted the score at seven thanks to a pair of free throws by McDonough and an Ashanti Barnes layup. JMU finished the final 5:36 with a 13-6 scoring advantage capped off by a Bree Robinson three-pointer with seven seconds left in the quarter to make the score 20-13.
James Madison expanded its lead early in the second quarter, with a 6-2 stretch over the first two minutes. Barnes scored two layups and McDonough scored a jumper in the paint. Dalanna Carter knocked down a second-chance jumper at 8:25 and hit a three-pointer at 7:10 to put ODU within 11-points, 29-18. James Madison expanded their lead to 17 points with 2:17 left thanks to a driving layup by Robinson. Kelsey Thompson scored ODU’s final four points of the half with a made second-chance layup and a second-chance jumper with two seconds left. ODU went into the break down by 13, 40-27.
JMU expanded its advantage by the midway mark of the third quarter, ballooning their lead to 19 points with 4:54 left after a made layup by Peyton McDaniel. ODU was able to cut into its deficit from that point with a quick 6-1 run thanks to a made layup by Thompson, a jumper in the paint by Mariah Clayton and a hook shot by Stack put ODU within 14 points, 55-41.
JMU would respond over the final 1:30 in the third by going on a 7-2 run. Barnes scored a basket plus the foul and converted her free throw, Zakiya Stephenson scored a driving layup, and Barnes nailed a jumper with three seconds left in the quarter as ODU went into the fourth facing an 18-point deficit in enemy territory, 61-43.
Old Dominion scored its first points of the final stanza at the 7:09 mark from a Fields jumper, 65-45. The furthest ODU would cut into its deficit was 16 points after a bucket by Clayton and a 50% trip to the free throw line by Cunningham made the score 67-51. After that, however, JMU brought its lead back to 21 by the 3:19 mark after a made layup by Barnes. Jaylen Ponder scored the final points of the evening on a driving layup with 33 seconds left, 77-55.
Fields finished with 14 points to lead the Monarchs followed by Stack with eight points. One of the nation’s leading shot blockers, Stack finished with four and grabbed a team-high eight rebounds. Cunningham ended the night with five points and seven rebounds. En’Dya Buford was held scoreless for the first time since joining ODU in the 2023-24 season.
ODU was outrebounded by the Dukes 48-41, and the Monarchs coughed up the ball 15 times to JMU’s nine. The Dukes scored 19 points from those turnovers compared to the Monarchs’ six points from turnovers. ODU scored 34 points in the paint and only had one fast break point the entire night. ODU’s bench production did outshine the Dukes’ 32-4, but JMU’s starting lineup outscored ODU’s, 73-23.
UP NEXT:
Old Dominion rounds out its 2025-26 regular season on Friday night against App State in Boone, N.C. Tipoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. at the Holmes Convocation Center.