JMU women rip Maine, 88-34

The James Madison women’s basketball team tied a school record with six players scoring in double figures as the Dukes (5-6) downed visiting Maine (1-10) 88-34 Friday evening at the JMU Convocation Center.

The Dukes won their second straight game while Maine dropped its seventh consecutive contest.

JMU’s balanced scoring marked the fifth time in school history that a Dukes team had six players reach double-figure scoring.  No player on Maine’s team scored in double figures.

JMU senior guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) had a game-high 14 points and tied for game honors with four assists.  Junior guard Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) added 13 points, and freshman forward Destiny Jones (Miramar, Fla./Archbishop McCarthy) scored a career-high 12.

The Dukes got 10 points apiece from redshirt senior guard Jasmine Gill (Greensboro, N.C./Page), freshman guard Precious Hall (Tallahassee, Fla./Maclay) and sophomore forward Toia Giggetts (Norfolk, Va./Lake Taylor).

Gill finished with a game-high eight rebounds, and Burkholder and sophomore forward/center Crystal Ross (Philadelphia, Pa./Smyrna, Del. H.S.) each grabbed six rebounds.

Maine was led by sophomore forward Danielle Walczak (Lee, N.H./Oyster River) with nine points.

JMU broke a 14-14 tie by scoring 12 unanswered points from five players to take a 26-14 lead with 9:45 left in the opening half.

Maine freshman guard Chantel Charles (Hackney, England/Barking Abbey) then scored five points in a 7-2 Bears run that got her team within seven, 28-21, at 7:31.  She hit a layup and then closed out the run with a 3-pointer.

JMU scored the final six points of the first half to enter intermission up 40-24, then opened the second period by scoring 10 unanswered points to build a 50-24 advantage at 14:32.

 

NOTES

* The Dukes held Maine scoreless for a combined 10:34 to close out the first half and open the second half.

* JMU’s 54-point margin of victory tied the fifth-largest margin of victory in school history and was the largest margin since a 55-point (86-31) home victory over Charleston Southern on Dec. 20, 2005.

* JMU has had six players score in double figures four other times.  The last time was March 4, 2004, in a 75-65 home win over Towson.

* The Dukes tallied 33 points off turnovers to Maine’s five points off turnovers.

* JMU redshirt senior forward Kanita Shepherd (Garner, N.C./Garner Magnet) tied a career-high with four blocked shots.  She now has 58 career blocks and moved from 17th to 14th place on JMU’s career list.

* JMU had a season-high 16 steals and Maine had a JMU-opponent season-high 29 turnovers.