Head Coach Kenny Brooks became the winningest coach in James Madison women’s basketball history with a 94-64 win over Delaware on Sunday at the JMU Convocation Center. Brooks now has 303 career wins, surpassing former head coach Sheila Moorman (302).
With their 21st consecutive home win, the Dukes improved to 22-2 overall and 13-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association while the Blue Hens fell to 13-12 overall with an 8-6 mark in the CAA.
Junior guard Precious Hall led the four Dukes in double figures with 23 points, her 10th straight contest scoring in double figures. This is the 70th time of her career that she has tallied 10 or more points in a game. The Naismith Trophy candidate also tallied five rebounds, five assists and a season-high four steals.
Sophomore forward Da’lishia Griffin set a career high with 15 points while also registering six rebounds, two steals, an assist and a block. Redshirt-senior center Lauren Okafor recorded her 10th double-double of the season by scoring 18 points and grabbing 11 rebounds.
Junior guard Ashley Perez (Manchester, Conn./Manchester (St. John’s)) rounded out the Dukes in double digits with 13 points off the bench. This is the 10th time this season that JMU has had at least four players in double figures.
Delaware also saw four players score in double figures, led by Hannah Jardine and Courtni Green who each posted 15 points. Erika Brown contributed 14 points while Joy Caracciolo added 13 points. All 64 of the Blue Hens’ points came from their starters while the Dukes received 32 points from their bench.
JMU started its wire-to-wire win by scoring the first 18 points of the game. After Delaware responded with a 12-0 run of its own to pull within six at the 10:07 mark of the first half (18-12), the Dukes outscored the Blue Hens 24-4 over the next6:07 of play to take a 23-point lead (39-16). Delaware never got closer than 17 points through the rest of the contest, and Madison pushed its advantage to as many as 38 points in the second half (69-31, 11:05).
The Dukes played efficiently on offense, shooting 50.0 percent (32-of-64) from the field with assists on 25 of their 32 made field goals. Junior point guard Angela Mickens led the way with seven assists, pushing her season total to 186, the third-highest total in JMU history. Freshman guard Hailee Barron also dished out four assists, a career high.
On the defensive end, JMU held Delaware to 37.5 percent (21-of-56) field-goal shooting and forced 22 turnovers, including 14 steals. The Dukes outscored the Blue Hens 32-17 off turnovers.
JMU hits the road for a Thursday-night clash at UNCW. Tipoff on Feb. 19 takes place at 7 p.m. at Trask Coliseum in Wilmington, N.C.
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Chris Graham
