NORFOLK, Va., Feb. 21, 2010 -- James Madison (10-5, 20-6) sprinted out to a 30-15 halftime lead and went on to beat league-leading Old Dominion (12-3, 14-11) 65-59 in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Sunday afternoon at the Constant Convocation Center.
Dukes' junior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast) led all players with 28 points and seven assists and moved into the CAA's top 10 career points list at ninth place with 1,754. She scored 21 of her points in the second half and was 9-for-9 at the foul line, all in the second period.
JMU sophomore guard/forward Kiara Francisco (Lakeland, Fla./Winter Haven) came off the bench to hit 4-for-6 from the field and finished with nine points. Junior guard Courtney Hamner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) contributed eight points and was 3-for-5 from the floor.
ODU remained atop the CAA standings and JMU held onto fourth place. Drexel, which lost in overtime to Hofstra on Sunday, is now tied with Virginia Commonwealth for second place with 11-4 records.
ODU was led in scoring by senior forward Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) with 14 and junior guard Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va./Maury) with 13. Sophomore center/forward Tia Lewis (Poulan, Ga./Worth County) added 10 points.
The game was played in front of an ODU season-high 5,179 fans.
After ODU's junior guard Shadasia Green (Paterson, N.J./Eastside) knocked down a three-pointer to tie the game at 11 at 11:17, JMU ran off 15 straight points to build a 26-11 advantage with 2:38 remaining. Six Dukes scored during the run, led by five points by freshman guard/forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby).
After Green's three at 11:17, JMU held ODU scoreless until freshman guard Jackie Cook (Hinckley, Ohio/Regina) hit a free throw at 2:36 to make the score 26-12. During that span the Monarchs were 0-for-14 from the field and committed five turnovers.
Cook's foul shot was one of only four points scored by the Monarchs tallied in the final 11 minutes of the half. The Dukes entered intermission ahead 30-15.
In that opening period JMU shot 52 percent (13-25) from the field, while ODU hit only 17.9 percent (5-28) of its field-goal tries. For the game the Dukes hit 52.2 percent (24-46), the team's second-best shooting performance of the season and the best of the year in conference play. ODU's final shooting percentage was 34.5 (20-58).
JMU extended its lead to 18 points, 35-17 at 17:12, before the Monarchs began to rally.
ODU began a 17-5 scoring run by scoring seven unanswered points, including a 15-foot baseline jumper and a three-pointer by freshman guard Carolann Cloutier (Montreal, Quebec/Dawson College). Lewis scored four points during the latter part of the run, and a layup by Cook at 9:24 got ODU within six at 40-34.
During the Monarchs' comeback, JMU hit only 20 percent (2-10) from the floor and committed a pair of turnovers.
The Dukes, however, then outscored ODU 7-1 and pushed its lead to 12, 47-35, when Hamner hit an 18-foot jumper from the right corner at 6:54.
The Monarchs got no closer than eight points until the final minute, when ODU twice closed to within seven and then within six when Cloutier scored the game's final points with 2.1 seconds left.
"I'm glad our defense was really good in the first half, and we stuck to our game plan," said JMU coach Kenny Brooks. "In the second half we didn't play as pretty as we would like but we gutted it out."
