James Madison women’s basketball used nine made 3-pointers during the first half to douse Drexel in a 73-54 win at the Daskalakis Athletic Center on Sunday afternoon.
JMU shot 52.9 percent from beyond the arc in the first half, sinking nine of 17 attempts during the first 20 minutes of play. The Dukes finished the game shooting 40.9 percent (9-of-22) from long range while limiting the Dragons to 27.3 percent on 3-point attempts (3-of-11).
JMU, now 11-0 in Colonial Athletic Association action, is 20-2 overall as the Dukes pushed Head Coach Kenny Brooks’ career wins total to 301. This marks the 10th consecutive season the Dukes have won at least 20 games. Drexel is 14-9 overall and 8-4 against CAA foes.
Drexel’s only lead in the game came off the contest’s first jumper 1:01 into play. A 16-4 run by JMU followed as the Dukes’ built a double-digit lead for good. The Dragons only came as close as 13 points (21-8, 11:38 1H) the rest of the way.
The Dukes were led by junior guard Precious Hall’s 19 points, including a 5-of-7 mark from beyond the arc. Hall now has 74 made 3-pointers this season, the eighth-highest total for a season in JMU history, and 174 made 3-pointers in her career, third most in JMU history.
Redshirt-senior center Lauren Okafor chipped in 11 points alongside junior forward Destiny Jones’ 11 points, a season high and one off of her career high 12 points.
Three Dragons scored in double figures, led by Carrie Alexander’s 13 points, 11 of which came in the first half. Rachel Pearson added in 12 points while Jacki Schluth posted 10.
As a team, Madison shot 45.8 percent from the floor while limiting Drexel to 31.0 percent shooting from the floor. The Dragons, however, capitalized on 15-of-17 free-throw attempts while the Dukes converted 10 of 14 attempts from the line.
With Drexel leading JMU in points in the paint 14-6 heading into the second half, Madison was able to slow down the inside game for Drexel and outscored the Dragons 16-6 in the paint during the final 20 minutes.
The Dukes also outscored the Dragons on second-chance opportunities, posting 14 points on 12 offensive rebounds compared to eight points on 11 offensive boards by Drexel. Overall, JMU held a 42-32 rebound advantage over Drexel.
Junior point guard Angela Mickens led the day with eight assists, moving her into 10th on the all-time JMU career assists chart (359), just behind current assistant director of basketball operations Nikki Newman’s (JMU ’14) 360 assists, and into a tie for seventh on the all-time season assists list (167) with Donna Budd’s total from 1988-89.
Okafor finished the day with two blocks, pushing her career total to 136. She has blocked 37 shots this season, which is tied for 13th most in JMU history. Hall has competed in 93 games for the purple and gold, tied for the 15th longest streak on the JMU all-time charts, and senior forward Toia Giggetts played in her 126th career game, the eighth-highest total of all JMU players.
JMU wraps up its three-game road swing this Thursday, February 12 at Towson. Tip-off takes place at noon as the Tigers are celebrating Education Day at SECU Arena.
