#1 JMU Surges into CAA Title Game
Vicki Friedman
BOXSCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | CAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 11, 2016) - Top-seeded James Madison is in the CAA Women’s Basketball Tournament championship game for the third straight season, rolling past No. 5 seed Delaware, 68-47, in Friday’s first semifinal at The Show Place Arena. The Dukes never trailed, extending their win streak to 19 games.
The two-time defending champion Dukes (26-5) will vie for the program’s ninth CAA title in Saturday’s 4 p.m. title game, meeting the winner of Friday’s second semifinal game between No. 2 Drexel and No. 6 Northeastern.
CAA Player of the Year
Jazmon Gwathmey showed why she’s the best in the league, scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-21 shooting. Senior guard
Ashley Perez scored 17, nailing five treys, and All-CAA First Team selection
Angela Mickens added 12 assists, one shy of the CAA Tournament single-game record set in 1993.
“When you have teammates like mine, it’s fun,” said Mickens, who added eight points.
Delaware was led by freshman forward
Nicole Enabosi, who recorded her sixth double-double with team-highs of 17 points and 10 rebounds, while guard
Erika Brown contributed 15 points on 6-of-9 field goal shooting.
Delaware (16-15) actually shot better from the floor (41%) than JMU (38%), but the difference came from the three-point line. The Dukes drained 10-of-24 attempts from beyond the arc, while the Blue Hens were 0-for-7. JMU also took advantage of 17 UD turnovers that led to 18 points.
Perez set the tone early, burying a trio of three-pointers and scoring 11 first-quarter points to give JMU an 18-12 advantage at the end of the opening period. The Blue Hens stayed within range for most of the second quarter, closing to within 24-18 on a
Sade Chatman layup with 3:38 remaining. However, the Dukes finished the half on a 12-2 run and took a commanding 36-20 lead into the locker room.
JMU’s
Aneah Young knocked down her the first two three-pointers of her career prior to intermission. That boosted the freshman guard from Baltimore to a career-best eight points in 13 minutes.
“It was a great time for her to step up,” JMU Head Coach
Kenny Brooks said.
The Dukes maintained the momentum through the second half, never letting Delaware climb closer than 17 points over the final 20 minutes. Gwathmey scored 16 of her 25 points in the second half as JMU extended the advantage to as many as 24 points.
Friday’s first semifinal pitted the two programs that have dominated the CAA championship the last six years with the Dukes winning in 2010, 2011, 2014 and 2015, and the Blue Hens earning back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013.
“They are the best team in the league,” said Delaware Head Coach
Tina Martin. “They are such a good rebounding team and such good athletes that you, as an opponent, have to shoot the ball well and establish an inside game, and we did neither.”
JMU has beaten Delaware eight straight times by an average of 21 points.
“It’ a healthy rivalry that we’ve been fortune to come through,” said CAA Coach of the Year
Kenny Brooks.