WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES 64-56 AT WILLIAM AND MARY

Thursday, February 11

Williamsburg, Va.

7:00 p.m.

James Madison University

18-5 (8-4CAA)

William and Mary

11-12 (4-8CAA)

James Madison

William and Mary

2/12/2010 2:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

WILLIAMSBURG, Va., Feb. 11, 2010 -- Sophomore guard Taysha Pye scored a career-high 33 points to lead William and Mary (4-8, 11-12) to a 64-56 win over James Madison (8-4, 18-5) in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Thursday evening at Kaplan Arena.

With the game tied at 50, the Tribe outscored the Dukes 14-6 in the final four minutes to pull away for the win, which ended a stretch of seven consecutive losses to JMU and a four-game in-season losing streak. JMU saw a three-game winning streak come to an end.

Pye scored 12 of W&M's final 19 points and connected on five of six free throws in the last six minutes. The Tribe also got five points from sophomore guard Janine Aldridge in the game-ending run.

Pye was joined in double-figure scoring by senior forward Tiffany Benson, who had 11 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.

JMU was led in scoring by freshman guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) with 13 points. Junior center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) scored 10 and had seven rebounds, and redshirt senior guard Sarah Williams (Wilmington, Del./Ursuline Academy) had nine points and a game-high 10 rebounds.

JMU put itself in a hole early as the Dukes hit only one field goal in 14 attempts in the opening eight minutes. Meanwhile, William and Mary sprinted to a 15-2 lead with 12:02 on the clock. Pye scored 11 straight points for the Tribe in that stretch.

JMU chipped away at the deficit, hitting four three-pointers and outscoring the Tribe 16-7 in a span of 5:37. A three by freshman guard/forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) capped the run, which cut the W&M lead to 22-18 at 6:54. Five JMU players scored in the stretch, which included six points on two three-pointers by junior guard Courtney Hamner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) and another three by Williams.

After back-to-back field goals by W&M freshman forward Emily Correal and redshirt freshman guard/forward Chanel Murchison pushed the Tribe's lead up to 26-18 at 5:58, the Dukes held the Tribe to a single field goal while outscoring W&M 13-2. Consecutive layups by junior forward/center Jalissa Taylor (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) at 2:35 and 1:58 ended the run and put JMU ahead 31-28.

The Dukes led 31-30 at halftime and got three-pointers from Williams and Newman in the opening 1:27 of the second half to pull ahead 37-32.

But the Tribe responded by scoring eight unanswered points, including five by Pye, to re-take the lead at 40-37 at 12:15. JMU was unable to regain the lead, managing only to tie the game on three occasions.

NOTE: JMU junior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast), the Dukes' leading scorer (25.0 avg.) did not play due to medical reasons.