Dukes Trounce Tribe 83-63 for 12th Straight Victory

Friday, February 19

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

19-5, 12-1CAA

William & Mary

13-12, 4-10CAA

William & Mary

JMU

2/19/2016 9:34:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Four players scored in double figures, paced by a game-high 22 points from redshirt senior guard Jazmon Gwathmey, to lead James Madison to an 83-63 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball victory against William & Mary on Friday night at the JMU Convocation Center.

The win improved the Dukes' record to 19-5 overall and 12-1 in the CAA while the Tribe fell to 13-12 and 4-10.

Aside from her game-best 22 points, Gwathmey pitched in a solid stat line with five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and two steals. Junior forward Da'Lishia Griffin recorded her third double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-best 18 rebounds. It was Griffin's eighth double-digit rebounding performance of the season.

Two other Dukes scored 12 points apiece as freshman center Kayla Cooper-Williams had 12 points, seven rebounds and a game-high five blocks while senior guard Ashley Perez returned from injury to score 12 after knocking down three treys. Senior guard Angela Mickens also led all players with five assists, pushing her into second place on the JMU career assists chart (609).

JMU shot 40.8 percent (29-71) for the game and knocked down eight 3-pointers while W&M shot 38.2 percent (29-71) from the floor. The Dukes dominated the glass by a 52-31 margin, including a 24-9 advantage on the offensive end. JMU outscored the Tribe 38-20 in the paint, 18-6 off turnovers and 20-5 on second-chance opportunities.

William & Mary was paced by Alexandra Masaquel, who scored a team-best 17 points, while Marlena Tremba added 10 points.

JMU stormed out of the gates to take a double-digit lead early in the ballgame. Leading 8-5, Perez sparked a 12-0 run over a four-minute span by starting and ending the run with 3-pointers, giving the Dukes a 20-5 lead with just over a minute left in the period.

The second began much the way the first ended, as JMU scored 14 of the quarter's first 16 points to extend the lead to 34-9 with 5:19 left in the half. Gwathmey's three as the horn sounded put JMU ahead 43-19 at the break. The lead was insurmountable for the Tribe as they never drew closer than 19 while JMU's lead reached as many as 29 points in the fourth quarter.

The Dukes conclude a three-game homestand on Sunday, Feb. 21, when they take on Towson at 2 p.m.

QUOTING COACH BROOKS
"Anytime you can come away with a win, you have to be satisfied. I thought we did a really good job, I thought we had really good energy in the first half. A lot of kids played. It was the first game we had all year that we had everyone available for us."

HOME SWEET HOME
JMU won for the 14th consecutive time at the JMU Convocation Center, which is tied for the fifth longest home win streak in program history. The Dukes also had 2,428 in attendance tonight, marking the 37th straight home game with 2000+ fans.

BLOCK PARTY
Freshman Kayla Cooper-Williams had a game-high five blocks, pushing her season total to 53. She moved into a tie for fifth on JMU's single-season blocks chart with Meredith Alexis' mark from the 2005-06 season. She started the day in ninth, passing Hollee Franklin once (49 in 2001-02) and Nikki Newman twice (51 in 2013-14, 52 in 2011-12). The single season record is 66 blocks, set by Lauren Whitehurst in 2011-12.

PLAY OF THE GAME

In her return from injury, Ashley Perez sinks a 3-pointer on her first shot attempt

JAZ MOVES ON UP
Jazmon Gwathmey's 22 points continued her move up the career scoring list as she now sits at 1,380 points, tied for 13th all-time with Sarah Schreib. Tonight, she passed Katherine Johnson and Nadine Morgan, both of whom had 1,365 career points.

TWEET OF THE GAME

Dee Dee Griffin has cleaned the glass and the floor at the Convo tonight.
— Curt Dudley (@CurtDudley) February 20, 2016

MICKENS DISHING HER WAY TO SECOND
Angela Mickens became JMU's second all-time leading assister Friday night after dishing out five assists. She now has 609 dimes, as she passed Andrea Benvenuto (606) for second place. She needs just 61 more assists to tie the program record, currently held by Jess Cichowicz (670).

PHOTO OF THE GAME

AROUND THE CAA
Four of the league's five wins Friday came from the home teams. Aside from JMU's win over William & Mary, Northeastern upended Delaware 57-54, Drexel beat Towson 56-40, and Hofstra rolled UNCW 62-38. The lone road victor was Elon, which notched a 54-38 win at College of Charleston.

JMU maintained its 2.5 game lead in the conference standings at 12-1 while Hofstra and Drexel stayed tied for second at 10-4. Elon moved into sole possession of fourth place at 9-5 while Delaware dipped to fifth at 8-6. Northeastern sits in sixth place (6-8), followed by College of Charleston (4-9), William & Mary (4-10), UNCW (3-11) and Towson (3-11).

NEXT UP
JMU returns to action on Sunday, Feb. 21 when Towson comes to town for a 2 p.m. contest.