WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The
William and Mary women's basketball team fell to James Madison, 68-63, on
Sunday afternoon at Kaplan Arena. In a contest defined by runs, W&M surged
to a double digit first half lead, thanks in part to a 19-0 burst, but the
Dukes countered with runs of their own as they rallied for the five-point
victory. The setback drops the Green and
Gold to 5-15 overall and 3-6 in Colonial Athletic Association play, while JMU
upped its mark to 14-7 on the season and 8-1 in league action.
Senior Emily Correal led W&M with a game-high 28 points
and six rebounds, while junior Kaitlyn Mathieu netted 10 points to go along
with eight boards. Senior Janine Aldridge
finished the afternoon with nine points and six assists. The Massapequa, N.Y., native netted all nine
points on three 3-pointers. Senior
Taylor Hilton posted six points and seven rebounds, while sophomore Jazmen
Boone chipped in with seven points.
W&M finished the contest shooting 20-of-62 (32.2 percent)
from the field and 7-of-28 (25.0 percent) from 3-point territory. The Tribe was an efficient 16-of-20 (80.0
percent) from the foul line as it owned the advantages in points off of
turnovers (18-15) and second chance points (16-14). Defensively, W&M held the CAA's best
3-point percentage shooting team in check as JMU shot just eight percent
(1-of-12) from beyond the arc.
After James Madison jumped out to an early 6-5 advantage, W&M
took its first lead of the afternoon, 8-6, after Mathieu netted back-to-back
3-pointers with the second coming at the 15:22 juncture.
The trifectas courtesy of Mathieu sparked a 19-0 run in
which the Green and Gold took a commanding 21-6 stranglehold at the 11:30 mark. During the stretch, the Tribe held the Dukes
scoreless for over seven minutes as W&M netted buckets on six consecutive
possessions, which was capped by sophomore Kyla Kerstetter's 3-pointer from the
left wing off a feed from Boone.
James Madison clawed its way back into the tilt with a run
of its own as Toia Giggetts tied the affair, 27-27, with a free-throw with 4:49
remaining. On its ensuing possession,
W&M regained the lead when Aldridge's two-handed bounce pass reached a
wide-open Boone who laid it in off the glass at the 3:17 mark.
The Dukes tied the contest for the third time of the half,
31-31, with 1:26 left to play. That's when
the Tribe closed the stanza strong with a quick 5-0 spurt, which gave the Green
and Gold a 36-31 lead at intermission. Boone's
3-pointer with 1:06 remaining was followed by a Correal lay up with 37 seconds
left to go.
At the 15:04 mark of the second half, JMU knotted things up
at 42 apiece after Hall connected from downtown. The Dukes then reeled off 14 unanswered points,
as it owned a 56-42 lead with 10:13 left to play. Aldridge's 3-pointer snapped the run as
W&M got to within 56-45 with 8:37 remaining in regulation. After JMU netted another bucket in which its
lead grew to 13, 58-45, at the 8:17 juncture, the Tribe answered with a 9-0
burst. Correal's lay up ignited the
charge, while two Boone free-throws got W&M to within 58-54 with 6:23 left
in the contest. However, that's as close
as the Green and Gold got to re-taking lead.
JMU closed out the game making its final six foul shots en route to the
victory.
Kirby Burkholder led James Madison with 16 points and 10 rebounds,
while Precious Hall and Tarik Hislop chipped in with 19 and 12 points,
respectively. The Dukes capped the
afternoon shooting 42.1 percent (24-of-57) from the floor and 79.2 percent (19-of-24)
from the foul line.
The Tribe returns to action at Georgia State on Thursday,
Feb. 7. Tip-off in Atlanta, Ga., is
scheduled for 7 p.m. and fans can follow the action online at
TribeAthletics.com with live stats.
