CHARLESTON, S.C. – The College of Charleston women's basketball team (9-20, 6-12) gave the Dukes all they could handle in the first half, but James Madison (22-7, 15-3) responded in a big way in the second, pulling away to hand the Cougars the 74-60 defeat.
• After giving up the first basket of the game, the Cougars responded with a 9-0 run, pushing the lead as high as eight before finishing the first quarter up 16-15. The Cougars regained another 8-point lead in the second quarter, but went into the locker room up just a bucket, 27-25.
Dajah Logan was a spark for the Cougars early on with 11 points in the first half. She wound up with a 13-6-3 with a block and two steals to stuff the stat sheet.
• The game was back and forth in the third quarter, but with CofC up 44-43 with under a minute left, JMU scored 7 unanswered points to close out the period, headlined by a Precious Hall And-One. That was the spark that sent the Dukes ahead permanently, as they won the fourth quarter 24-16. Hall was held to two points in the first half due to a combination of poor shooting and foul trouble, but erupted in the second to finish with 25.
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Tanisha Brown recorded her tenth double-double of the season, scoring 20 points and pulling down 12 boards while adding three steals. Brown came up big from the line, going 10 of 13.
Nola Henry had a solid all-around game as well, matching a season-high seven assists while adding six points on 3 of 5 shooting with four rebounds.
• The Cougars were bested in most statistical categories, including rebounds, field goal shooting and steals. They managed to limit JMU to 4 of 23 shooting from deep and forced them into 21 turnovers, but committed 24 of their own. Savannah Felgemacher had a strong game for the Dukes on an individual level with an 11-10 double-double.
"We didn't have the same firepower in the second as we came out with in the first," head coach
Candice M. Jackson said. "We missed some shots, missed some box outs, we definitely committed too many turnovers, and that fueled JMU's transition."
Elsewhere in the CAA, a combination of losses by UNCW, Towson and Hofstra led to the Cougars earning the No. 10 seed and UNCW the No 7 seed, making them opening round opponents in the CAA Tournament. The winner of that game will face No. 2 seeded James Madison in the quarterfinals.
