Staff Report
Junior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast) had 14 points during a 27-9 James Madison scoring run to end the game as the host Dukes defeated Virginia Tech 66-59 in non-conference women’s basketball at the JMU Convocation Center Sunday.
Virginia Tech went in front 28-24 with the final five points of the opening half and led 50-39 with 8:55 left and 54-44 at 7:45 before JMU controlled play the rest of the way. Evans, who finished with a game-high 27 points, had four two-point field goals and two three-pointers during the final 8:21 and put the Dukes in front to stay, 58-56, with a layup with 1:58 left.
Virginia Tech got to within 58-57 on freshman guard Alyssa Fenyn’s (Newark, N.Y./Newark) free throw at 1:31, but the Hokies didn’t score again until only seven seconds remained and JMU led 66-57.
The victory was 2-0 JMU’s second in come-from-behind fashion of the week. The Dukes rallied from a 16-point deficit to beat Georgetown 79-76 Wednesday (Nov. 18) at the JMU Convocation Center in their season-opener.
Virginia Tech fell to 2-2 with the loss.
Five Dukes scored during their team’s late scoring run. After a three-pointer and two-pointer by Evans, sophomore guard/forward Kiara Francisco (Lakeland, Fla./Winter Haven) scored on a 15-footer and on a fastbreak layup to pull JMU to within 54-48. Fenyn ran Virginia Tech’s lead to 56-48 with a layup at 6:12, but JMU freshman guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) had a free throw and Evans at short jumper to pull JMU to within 56-51.
Evans’ 18-footer at 3:46 cut the deficit to 56-53; and she tied the score at 56-56 with a three-pointer at 2:53 before putting JMU ahead to stay at 1:58.
Freshman guard/forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) scored on a driving layup at 1:03 for a 60-57 JMU lead; junior forward/center Jalissa Taylor (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) had a fastbreak layup with 37 seconds left for a 62-57 advantage and two free throws at 0:25 for a 64-57 edge; and Hislop hit on two free throws at 0:16 for JMU’s final points.
Evans, who had 29 points against Georgetown, hit on nine of 28 shots from the field, including six of her last nine attempts. She hit on five of 12 three-point attempts and on each of her four free throws and had two assists and three steals in 36 minutes.
The Dukes also got double-figure scoring efforts from Francisco and Hislop with 12 and 11 points, respectively.
JMU returns to action Tuesday (Nov. 24) in 8 p.m. (EST) game at Austin Peay in Clarksville, Tenn.
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