Brooks named state coach of the year
James Madison women’s basketball coach Kenny Brooks has been named the Coach of the Year by the Virginia Sports Information Directors Association (VaSID).
Brooks guided the Dukes to a school-record 29 wins, a 29-8 record and a runner-up finish in the Women’s National Invitation Tournament. He earned the VaSID Coach of the Year award for the third time in the past six years after also winning the honor in 2007 and 2010. Read more
JMU rally comes up short in WNIT final
James Madison battled to the end but came up a little short in a 75-68 loss at Oklahoma State in the Women’s National Invitational Tournament championship game Saturday afternoon at Gallagher-Iba Arena.
The Dukes, who trailed by 17 points with under 13 minutes to play, cut the margin to four with 28 seconds left but could not close the gap any further. Read more
JMU nips ‘Cuse, heads to WNIT Final
James Madison beat Syracuse 74-71 in the National Women’s Invitation Tournament semifinals Wednesday evening at the JMU Convocation Center.
JMU advances to the WNIT championship game at Oklahoma State at 3 p.m. Saturday, March 31. The Cowgirls beat San Diego 73-57 in the other semifinal Wednesday.
JMU, which won its school-record 29th game, improved to 29-7. Syracuse ended its season with a 22-15 record. Read more
JMU women knock off UVa., head to WNIT semis
James Madison outscored Virginia 41-26 in the second half en route to a 68-59 win in National Women’s Invitation Tournament quarterfinal-round basketball action Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.
JMU, 28-7, advances to a 7 p.m. home March 28 semifinal game against Syracuse, a 74-73 overtime winner over Toledo on Saturday. Virginia completed its season with a 25-11 record. Read more
JMU women dominate South Florida
James Madison held South Florida to 12 first-half points and went on to beat the Bulls 72-45 in National Women’s Invitation Tournament round of 16 basketball action Friday night at the JMU Convocation Center.
JMU now hosts Virginia Sunday, March 25, in a quarterfinal-round game at 2 p.m. at the JMU Convocation Center.
The JMU Athletics Ticket Office will be open from 1 -5 p.m. on Saturday, March 24. The ticket office can be reached by phone at 540-JMU-Duke (568-3853) or by visiting JMUSports.com and clicking on TICKETS. Read more
UVa., JMU to square off in WNIT on Sunday
The Virginia women’s basketball team will play on the road at James Madison for its quarterfinal Women’s National Invitation Tournament contest on Sunday (March 25) at 2 p.m.
Virginia (25-10) is playing in the WNIT quarterfinals for the fifth time in school history (1980, 2006, 2007, 2011, 2012). The Cavaliers advanced to the semifinals in 1980. Read more
JMU women top Wake Forest in OT in WNIT
James Madison outscored Wake Forest 14-6 in overtime to post an 84-76 come-from-behind win in National Women’s Invitation Tournament second-round basketball action Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.
JMU advances to a round of 16 game against South Florida, to be played Friday, March 23, at JMU (7 p.m.)
The Dukes improved to 26-7 while Wake Forest finished its season with a 20-14 record.
Wake led by as many as 17 points in the opening half, and it took a 3-pointer by JMU junior forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) with 6.6 seconds left in regulation to tie the game at 70 and force overtime.
Freshman forward Toia Giggetts (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor) scored six of JMU’s 14 overtime points when she personally outscored Wake 6-2 in a span of 1:01. Her 16-foot jumper with 1:38 to play put the Dukes up 78-76, and following a Wake Forest turnover she drove for a layup at 1:09 for an 80-76 JMU lead. Wake missed three field-goal tries in the final 32 seconds, while junior guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) and sophomore guard Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) each converted two foul shots to ice the game.
Burkholder scored a career-high 26 points and was 10-for-10 at the foul line. She hit four 3-pointers and twice was foul on 3-point attempts and converted all six of those free throws. Redshirt senior forward Lauren Whitehurst (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) added 17 points, and Hislop scored 13. Giggetts hit 3-of-4 from the field and 5-of-8 from the foul line for 11 points.
Newman led JMU in rebounds with nine and Whitehurst had eight.
Wake junior center Sandra Garcia (Miami, Fla./Plantation American Heritage) came off the bench to lead the Demon Deacons with 19 points, and senior forward Secily Ray (Thomasville, N.C./Thomasville) added 17 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Junior guard Lakevia Boykin (Raleigh, N.C./Southeast Raleigh) scored 10 points.
