JMU Claims Third-Straight Title
Vicki Friedman
BOXSCORE | PHOTO GALLERY | CAA BASKETBALL CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 12, 2016) – Make that three-straight CAA Women’s Basketball championships for James Madison, which dominated Drexel, 60-46, on Saturday before 1,207 at The Show Place Arena.
The Dukes (27-5) earned the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament and will learn its seed at 7 p.m. on Monday when ESPN unveils the bracket of 64. The Dragons (19-13) are WNIT-bound for the second year in a row.
JMU earned the Tom Yeager Championship Trophy, named for the retiring conference commissioner for the last 31 years. It was the Dukes’ ninth league title overall dating back to 1986 and their fifth in the last seven years.
James Madison also extended its winning streak to 20 games, the longest streak in the 14-season tenure of
Kenny Brooks, the CAA Coach of the Year.
CAA Player of the Year
Jazmon Gwathmey was named the Most Outstanding Player for the third straight year behind a 19-point afternoon on 9-of-18 shooting. She becomes just the second player in CAA history to earn three-straight Most Outstanding Player awards. Old Dominion’s Shareese Grant completed the feat in 2003, 2004, and 2005.
“It was a total team effort all year and that’s what it was today,” said Brooks.
The Dragons entered the game as the top three-point shooting team in the league, but it was the Dukes who dominated the perimeter behind seven treys, including a trio from senior
Da’Lishia Griffin who came into the game converting just 16 from beyond the arc in her previous three years combined.
“She’s [Griffin] a tremendous three-point shooter when she gets her feet set,” Brooks said.
Griffin finished with a double-double 16 rebounds and 11 points to go along with two blocks and two assists. All-CAA First Team
Angela Mickens scored 14 points with five assists and eight rebounds, and senior guard
Ashley Perez scored 10 points.
“The chemistry of this group is unmatched,” said Brooks, whose Dukes lost 2015 Player of the Year Precious Hall prior to the season to a knee injury.
The Dragons received eight points from graduate student
Jackie Schluth and seven apiece from senior guard
Carrie Alexander and junior guard
Alexis Smith, both off the bench.
The Dragons, making their fourth CAA Championship title game appearance, fell behind by 10 points in a first quarter in which they were held to four points. The Dukes opened the game on a 10-0 run before Schluth finally started the engines with a jumper, ending the 6:58 scoreless drought. The Dragons only managed one more field goal in the period, unable to find their offensive rhythm. JMU, with three more offensive boards, led 13-4 at the end of the quarter.
The Dragons only turned it over six times, but shot 31 percent from the field and were outrebounded 45-35.Despite Drexel scoring on four of five possessions late in the third quarter, the Dukes held a 47-30 advantage going into the final period behind eight points from Gwathmey.
2016 CAA Championship All-Tournament Team
Sarah Curran, Drexel
Samantha DeFreese, Northeastern
Nicole Enabosi, Delaware
Angela Mickens, James Madison
Ashley Perez, James Madison
Jazmon Gwathmey, James Madison (Most Outstanding Player)