JAMES MADISON ADVANCES IN WNIT WITH WIN OVER INDIANA
The James Madison women's basketball
team (24-9) overcame a seven-point deficit in the final 1:16 of regulation and
went on to beat Indiana (18-15)
86-81 in overtime in a Women's National Invitation Tournament second-round game
Saturday evening at IU's Assembly Hall.
Freshman guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville,
Tenn./Northeast) scored 38 points and tied the JMU scoring record set by senior
teammate Tamera Young Young scored 30 points against IU and hit the
tying basket in regulation to force overtime.
The Dukes advance to a
third-round WNIT game at Kentucky. The date will be announced later on Sunday.
Evans scored eight points in 43 seconds in the final minute of
regulation as JMU cut a 69-62 Indiana lead to one, 71-70, with 17 seconds
remaining. She hit a long three-pointer
at the 1:00 mark, was fouled on a three-point attempt and hit all three foul
shots with 31.2 seconds left, and converted two more foul shots with 17 seconds
to go.
In the same span Indiana scored only two points on free throws by
junior guard/forward Kim Roberson
with 28.5 seconds left.
With the Dukes down by one (71-70), Evans
then fouled sophomore guard Jamie
Braun with 13.3 seconds left and IU in the double-bonus. Braun missed the first foul shot but made the
second to put the Hoosiers ahead 72-70.
Young then drove the baseline for
a layup with 6.2 seconds remaining to tie the game at 72-72, sending the contest
into overtime.
In overtime the Dukes controlled the opening jump ball,
and senior guard Jasmin Lawrence (Queens, N.Y./Francis Lewis)
knocked down a three-pointer at 4:49 for a 75-72 JMU lead.
JMU led the
rest of the way, outscoring the Hoosiers 14-9 in the extra period.
After Lawrence's trey, IU was able to
close the margin to 75-74 on a foul shot apiece from junior forward Whitney Thomas at 3:24 and freshman
guard Jori Davis at
2:01.
Young hit a 16-foot baseline jumper at 1:43, and Evans knocked down
a three-pointer with 51.8 seconds left.
Then Young made a steal and was fouled, and she made a free throw with 45
seconds remaining for an 81-74 JMU lead.
After Thomas missed a three-pointer on IU's next possession,
Evans got the rebound and was fouled.
Her two free throws with 33 seconds left pushed JMU ahead
83-74.
However, Braun hit a three-pointer at 26.6 seconds, and after a
free throw by JMU's Lawrence with 24 seconds to go, IU senior guard Nikki Smith hit a three-pointer and was
fouled with 15.6 seconds to play. She
converted the foul shot, and the three-point play cut JMU's lead to
84-81.
Evans was fouled immediately and made both her free throws with
14.9 seconds remaining for the final 86-81 margin.
Indiana led for most
of the first 25 minutes of play and was up as many as 11 on two occasions, the
last time 27-16 at the 7:11 mark of the first half.
The Hoosiers were up
34-31 at halftime and had pushed ahead to 40-33 at 17:14. Then Evans scored nine points to lead her
team in a 9-1 run that gave the Dukes their first lead, 43-41 at
14:17.
With JMU ahead 45-44 after a Jimenez layup at 13:34, IU outscored
the Dukes 19-7 to take a 63-52 lead at 5:33.
Thomas scored nine of IU's points, including the last six, in the
run.
A 9-2 JMU run, with Evans scoring five and Young four points, got
JMU within four, 65-61 at 2:54. Then IU
outscored the Dukes 4-1 to take the 69-62 lead at the 1:16 mark.
For the
game, Evans was 10-for-19 from the field, including six-for-12 from three-point
range. She hit all 12 of her free
throws.
Young, who had her fifth career 30-point game, also had a
game-high 12 rebounds for her 17th season and 42nd career double-double.
JMU freshman center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen,
N.J./North Bergen) added nine points.
Junior forward Kisha Stokes (New York, N.Y./Murry Bergtraum) grabbed nine
rebounds, and redshirt senior forward Jennifer Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Martin
Luther King) grabbed eight boards.
IU was led by Thomas with 26 points
and eight rebounds. She was
five-for-eight from the field and 16-for-18 from the foul line. Junior forward Amber Jackson (Wilmington,
N.C./Laney) in Thursday's WNIT first-round win over Radford. scored 15, Braun finished
with 14, Davis scored 11 and Smith had 10.