ODU pulls upset

Monarchs roll past Dukes

Staff Report
JMU sports: www.jmusports.com

Old Dominion (3-1, 5-9) jumped out to a 34-19 halftime lead and went on to post a 67-58 victory over James Madison (3-1, 13-2) in Colonial Athletic Association women’s basketball Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.

Senior forward Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va./Jamestown) scored a team-high 14 points for ODU. Junior guard Shadasia Green (Paterson, N.J./Eastside) and guard Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va./Maury) also scored in double digits, contributing 13 and 10 points, respectively. Parker also pulled down a game-high nine rebounds.

Junior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast) led the way for the Dukes with 22 points and four of JMU’s six assists. Redshirt senior guard Sarah Williams (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) had 11 points and six rebounds for JMU, while freshman guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) had 10 points and six rebounds.

The Monarchs used a 23-11 run in the first half to go up 25-13 at 7:01 and never relinquished the lead en route to the victory, which halted the Dukes’ home winning streak at nine. Six ODU players scored points in the Monarch’s first-half run.

The Monarchs dominated the first half and eventually stretched their lead to 34-19 at halftime. ODU shot 12-for-30 (40%) from the field and shot 6-for-12 (50%) from behind the three-point line in the first half. The Dukes were held to shooting just 7-for-26 (26.9%) from the floor and 1-for-9 (11.1%) from long range.

The 19 points was JMU’s lowest first-half total since scoring 18 against Northeastern in a March 13, 2009 contest.

ODU maintained its lead out of halftime and stretched it to 17 points on three separate occasions, the last of which came at the 13:21 mark (51-34). The Dukes were not able to cut the lead to single digits until there was 3:09 left in the game.

JMU eventually cut the lead to six (64-58 at 1:10) but couldn’t get any closer. The Monarchs went 3-for-4 on free throws in the last 26 seconds to maintain the final margin.

The Dukes shot 14-for-41 (34.1 percent) from the floor and 1-for-14 (7.1 percent) from three-point range in the second half, but held ODU to 0-9 from beyond the arc.  JMU outscored the Monarchs 39-33 in the second period.