Women's Basketball Beats Central Connecticut 71-64

Sunday, December 18

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1:00 PM

James Madison University

7-1

Central Conn.

6-3

Central Conn. State

James Madison

12/18/2011 7:03:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va., Dec. 18, 2011 -- James Madison junior forward Nikki Newman (Harrisonburg, Va./Turner Ashby) finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds for her first career double-double to lead the Dukes to their 15th straight home win, a 71-64 victory over Central Connecticut State in women's basketball Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.

JMU improved to 7-1 overall and 3-0 at home this season. Central Connecticut's record is 6-3.

Newman was one of four Dukes in double figures, led by redshirt senior forward Lauren Whitehurst (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) with 17 and sophomore guard Kirby Burkholder (Bridgewater, Va./Turner Ashby) and junior guard Tarik Hislop (Silver Spring, Md./Paint Branch) with 16 apiece.

Central Connecticut junior center Kirsten Daamen (Merrimac, Mass./Pentucket Regional) finished with a game-high 23 points and was joined in double figures by junior guard Jaclyn Babe (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) with 16 and sophomore guard Jessica Babe (Pittsburgh, Pa./Mt. Lebanon) with 10.

Game Notes:
* JMU never trailed in the game.
First Half
* JMU scored the game's first nine points
* The Dukes' biggest lead of the opening half was nine, on three occasions
* CCSU cut the lead to one twice in the first half (27-26 at 2:40 and 30-29 at 2:39)
* JMU closed out the half with an 8-2 run to lead 38-31 at intermission, ending the half with junior guard Tanica Anderson (Marietta, Okla./Marietta) driving the court and finishing with a scoop shot in the lane with one-tenth of a second remaining
Second Half
* CCSU scored the first four points of the second half to pull within three, 38-35, at 18:35
* JMU used a 9-5 run to pull out to its biggest lead of the half, 57-48, at 11:03
* Lauren Whitehurst scored 10 of JMU's first 19 points of the half, including eight of the Dukes' first 10 points
* CCSU rallied to cut the margin to two, 60-58, with 5:56 remaining... Kirsten Daamen scored the final four points in a 9-5 run that got the Blue Devils within two
* In a span of 4:33, Nikki Newman had four rebounds, scored back-to-back layups (at 5:35 and 4:33) and hit a foul shot as JMU built a 69-62 lead with 52 seconds to play
And More
* Newman's first career double-double included a career-tying high of 10 points... she only played 24 minutes due to foul trouble.