Quinnipiac drops JMU women to 0-2

Quinnipiac rallied from a nine-point second-half deficit to beat James Madison 65-60 in women’s basketball Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.

The win by the visiting Bobcats in their season-opening game ended JMU’s home winning streak at nine games.  JMU dropped to 0-2 after losing its second game in three days.

Senior guard Felicia Barron (Springfield, Mass./Central) led Quinnipiac with 23 points, and sophomore forward/center Samantha Guastella (Red Bank N.J./Red Bank Catholic) and junior forward Brittany McQuain (Independence, Mo./William Chrisman) each recorded double-doubles.  Guastella had 12 points and 10 rebounds, and McQuain contributed 10 points and 10 rebounds.

JMU was led by junior guard Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) with 24 points and a career-high 15 rebounds.  Also in double figures was senior guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) with 16.

JMU was up by seven (27-20) at halftime and held a 33-24 lead with 17:50 on the clock.  The Bobcats, however, ran off nine straight points, four of them by sophomore guard Jasmine Martin (Slicklerville, N.J./Timber Creek), to tie the game at 33 with 15:49 left.

After a JMU free throw put the Dukes ahead 34-33, Barron scored on back-to-back three-point plays as Quinnipiac went in front of JMU for the first time since the Bobcats led 7-6 at the 10:55 mark of the first half.   Barron’s second three-point play at 12:52 put her team ahead 39-34.

A short jumper by Hislop and a runner in the lane by redshirt senior guard Jasmine Gill (Greensboro, N.C./Page) got the Dukes within one, 39-38, at 12:12.

However, Quinnipiac responded with a 14-4 scoring run to pull out to an 11-point (53-42) lead with 6:00 to play.  The Bobcats started the run with eight unanswered points, beginning with a jumper by McQuain at 11:53.  McQuain also scored the final six points of the run on a 10-foot jumper, a put-back on a rebound and two free throws.

The Dukes were able to close the gap to three twice (55-52 at 2:33 and 57-54 at 1:37) but could get no closer.