James Madison Advances in WNIT; Towson Falls in NCAA Tournament & Drexel in WNIT

3/22/2019 9:34:46 PM

RICHMOND, Va. (March 22, 2019) – A dominant defensive effort helped James Madison advance in the first round of the WNIT, while Towson’s first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament ended after a defeat at the hands of UConn. Drexel also saw its season come to an end after a loss at Harvard in the WNIT.

James Madison 48, North Carolina A&T 37 (WNIT 1^st Round)
James Madison held visiting North Carolina A&T to 22.4-percent shooting en route to collecting a 48-37 victory in the opening round of the WNIT.

The victory sends James Madison (26-5) into a 2^nd Round matchup with USF on Sunday at 6 p.m. ET.

Though the Dukes shot just 28.8-percent, they held the visiting Aggies to 10 combined points across the second and third quarters, enabling James Madison to open a 16-point lead entering the fourth quarter. The second and third quarters marked the 40^th and 41^st time this season the Dukes have held an opponent to 10 or fewer points in a quarter this season.

Devon Merritt led all scorers with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, falling one rebound shy of a double-double. Kayla Cooper-Williams cleaned up the boards, recording 17. Jackie Benitez joined Merritt in double figures with 10 points.

Charnise Tyler led North Carolina A&T with 10 points.

(2) UConn 110, (15) Towson 61 (NCAA 1^st Round)
Making its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Women’s Basketball Championship, Towson got off to a slow start and could not rally against second-seeded UConn, falling 110-61, in the first round matchup in Storrs, Conn.

Towson (20-13), which won the CAA women’s basketball championship for the first time in program history last Saturday, fell behind 31-7 after the first quarter as the Tigers missed their first 10 attempts from the field. Trailing 64-24 at the half, the Tigers found their footing in the second half of the game, paced by Kionna Jeter.

Jeter led the Tigers with 20 points, finishing as the only Towson player in double figures. Nine of 12 Tigers recorded points in the game.

All five starters finished in double figures for UConn (32-2), which has reached 11 consecutive Final Fours. Napheesa Collier led all scorers with 23 points.

Harvard 69, Drexel 56 (WNIT 1^st Round)
Aubree Brown led three Drexel players in double figures with 16 points, but Harvard jumped out to an early lead and held off the visiting Dragons, 69-56, in the first round of the WNIT.

Drexel (24-9), which saw its season come to a close with the loss, matched its season-high for points allowed in a regulation game this season.

Harvard raced out to a 6-0 lead before Drexel came back to tie the game twice in the first quarter. However, Sydney Skinner’s 3-pointer put the Crimson ahead, 20-17, and Harvard would not trail the rest of the evening.

Drexel would come as close as 44-41 after a Maura Hendrixson 3-pointer with 4:08 remaining in the third quarter, but could come no closer the remainder of the game.

Hendrixson was one of three Dragons to finish in double figures, coming off the bench to record 11 points. Brown was 4-of-6 from 3-point range on the way to her 16-point effort, while Keishana Washington posted 10 points.

Katie Benzan led all scorers with 18 points for the Crimson.