JMU OUTLASTS VCU IN CAA FIRST-PLACE BATTLE 69-59

Sunday, January 23

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2:00 p.m.

James Madison University

13-6, 6-1CAA

VCU

10-7, 5-2CAA

Va. Commonwealth

James Madison

1/23/2011 9:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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HARRISONBURG, Va., Jan. 23, 2011 - James Madison (13-6, 6-1 CAA) was able to overcome an early 10-point deficit and held off Virginia Commonwealth (10-7, 5-2 CAA) en route to a 69-59 victory in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball on Sunday at the JMU Convocation Center.

With the win the Dukes remained in a tie for first place in the CAA with Old Dominion and North Carolina Wilmington at 6-1 in the conference. VCU dropped to 5-2 and is in sole possession of fourth place.

The Dukes came out of the gate slow, falling behind the Rams 21-11 at the 12:06 mark in the first half. However, JMU's next basket, a jumper from junior guard/forward Kiara Francisco (Lakeland, Fla./Winter Haven) with 11:54 left, keyed a 29-8 JMU run that lasted until halftime.

Coming out of halftime, JMU was able to stretch its lead to 16 multiple times, the last of which came with 11:31 remaining in the game.

Over the next 10 minutes the Rams were able to cut into JMU's lead. With 1:15 left a three-pointer by VCU junior forward Courtney Hurt (Conyers, Ga./Salem) made it 66-59 in the Dukes' favor, but the Rams would get no closer. Two free throws from senior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast) and one from senior guard Courtney Hamner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) achieved the final margin.

Evans led the Dukes with 19 points on the day, to go along with a game-high seven assists. Senior center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) also reached double-digit points for JMU with 14, while senior forward/center Jalissa Taylor (Chesterfield, Va./L.C. Bird) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

Hurt was the focal point for VCU, scoring a game-high 26 points and accumulating nine rebounds. Junior guard Jennifer Lane (Wichita, Kansas/Wichita Heights) and redshirt junior guard Andrea Barbour (Charlottesville, Va./Charlottesville) chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.

Hurt's scoring effort took her over the 1,000-point mark, giving her 1,022 for her career.

The Dukes were fouled frequently while attacking the basket and went 18-for-29 (62.1%) from the free-throw line, while VCU went 5-for-12 (41.7%) from the stripe.

"It was a good win (but) you would love to play a little bit better," said JMU Head Coach Kenny Brooks. "We've got to play a complete 40-minute game to be where we want to be.

"It's the first time since William and Mary (Jan. 6) when we had everyone available to us. I was like a kid in a candy store."

Courtney Hurt "is a really good player, and she's having a phenomenal year and you're not going to shut her out," said Brooks.