James Madison women’s basketball fell 79-77 in a heartbreaker to Wright State as the Raiders’ KC Elkins scored a 3-point shot at the buzzer for the win. JMU finished in fourth place at the Gulf Coast Showcase, held at Germain Arena in Estero, Fla.
The Dukes took the lead on a jumper by senior Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) with 26.3 seconds remaining in the game. On the ensuing Raiders possession, they put the ball in Kim Demmings hands, who accounted for 28 points on the day. After finding the lane blocked by purple, she kicked the ball out to Elkins who released the ball just before the final horn and posted her only made 3-pointer on the day.
JMU is now 5-2 on the season, and Wright State is 6-2 on the year.
Burkholder led five double-figure Dukes with 28 points and 10 rebounds, her fourth double-double of the season. Senior Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) dropped in 12 points with two blocks, while junior Toia Giggetts (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor) notched 11 points with five rebounds and two blocks.
Redshirt junior Lauren Okafor (Hamden, Conn./Hopkins School (Providence)) posted her first double-digit game in a JMU uniform with 10 points, and sophomore Precious Hall (Tallahassee, Fla./Maclay School) also tallied 10 points on the day.
Wright State made 34 trips to the free-throw line, making 28 of their 34 attempts at the line while the Dukes visited the charity stripe just 11 times, sinking seven of them. Overall, JMU shot 52.4 percent from the floor, including 36.4 percent from 3-point range. Wright State shot 41.4 percent from the floor and 20.0 percent from beyond the arc.
Wright State was led by Demmings with 28 points and 11 rebounds. Tay’ler Mingo accounted for 26 points on the day for the Raiders.
JMU scored 50 points in the paint compared to Wright State’s 30. The Raiders, however, won the turnover game as they converted 25 JMU turnovers into 27 points. The Dukes converted 15 Wright State turnovers into 18 points.
While the Dukes won the rebound battle 38-33, the Raiders held the advantage in second-chance points 11-6.
JMU has a quick turnaround as the Dukes travel to Pittsburgh for a Wednesday night game at 7 p.m.
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