Balanced Effort Leads JMU Past Charleston for 67-53 Win

Sunday, January 28

Harrisonburg, Va.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

9-013-7 | CAA

College of Charleston

1-95-16 | CAA

Col. of Charleston

JMU

1/28/2018 4:20:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. – Balanced marks throughout the stat sheet drove James Madison women's basketball to a 67-53 victory over College of Charleston, the Dukes' 10th consecutive win (13-7, 9-0 CAA).

All nine Dukes to see the court on Sunday tallied at least two points, including four Dukes in double figures for just the third time this season. Sophomore Lexie Barrier led the scoring effort with 13 points, followed by 11 each from sophomore Kamiah Smalls and redshirt sophomore Kelly Koshuta.

Redshirt sophomore Kayla Cooper-Williams added 10 points, her second straight game in double figures, along with 12 rebounds to tally her third double-double of the season.

TURNING POINT
With a little more than eight minutes go to in the third period, the Cougars pulled within four after a layup plus an and-1 by Deja Ford. The Dukes responded with a 9-2 run to push back to a double-digit lead (41-30, 4:50 3Q), a lead the Cougars would only be able to cut to eight the rest of the way. JMU led by as many as 17 points late in the fourth quarter.

BALL PROTECTION
The Dukes scored 22 points off the Cougars 19 turnovers. JMU turned the ball over 13 times, though nine came in the first 20 minutes of play. CofC was able to convert the giveaways into just 11 points.

HELPING HANDS
Seven of the Dukes who saw action had assists. Junior Logan Reynolds and senior Hailee Barron each led the team with four. Kamiah Smalls, Lexie Barrier and Aneah Young each had two while Kelly Koshuta and Devon Merrit each tallied one.

REJECTION TIME
Kayla Cooper-Williams totaled five blocks, tying her season high and pushing her season mark to 40, tied for the 14th-highest total in a single JMU season. She also upped her career total to 111, now just nine blocks away from the top five in JMU history.

STILL OF THE NIGHT
True family means celebrating each others' successes.
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Full gallery available here.

DOUBLIN' UP

Redshirt-sophomore Kelly Koshuta scored 11 points in Sunday's win, making it her 11th double-figure scoring performance this season.
Sophomore Lexie Barrier as she scored 13 points for her 13th double-figure game this season as well as her fifth consecutive such performance.
Kamiah Smalls also reached the double-digit plateau for the 19th time this season over 20 games.

AT THE LINE
JMU made 21 trips to the free throw line and made 14 of them count while limiting Charleston to just five trips to the charity stripe (4-for-5). Seven Dukes made at least two trips and each converted at least one attempt, with Logan Reynolds, Kamiah Smalls and Hailee Barron all going 2-for-2. Kayla Cooper-Williams went 2-for-4 at the line, giving her a total showing of 14-for-18 over the last five games.

MAKING MOVES
As a team, JMU finished with nine steals, a mark the Dukes have hit seven times in the first nine CAA games. The effort was led by Logan Reynolds, who tied a career high with five thefts.

BLOCK PARTY
During league play, JMU has tallied at least six blocks as a team in eight of the first nine games. The Dukes denied seven shots today against Charleston, one more than they had against the Cougars in the first meeting last weekend (6).

MOVIN' ON UP
With her first half make from beyond the arc, senior Hailee Barron moved passed Ashley Perez ('16) on the all-time made 3-pointers list for sole possession of 10th all- time at 122 made threes.
Barron also appeared in her 121st consecutive game, now in sole ownership of the sixth-longest streak in JMU history.

HALFWAY THERE
At the halfway mark of Colonial Athletic Association action, the Dukes remain a game up in the league standings at a perfect 9-0. Drexel sits in second at 8-1, and Delaware is in third at 6-3. A three-way tie for fourth follows between William & Mary, Elon and Northeastern. Hofstra (4-6), Towson (3-6), Charleston (1-9) and UNCW (0-9) round out the list.

UP NEXT
The Dukes hit the road for a pair next weekend, starting at William & Mary on Friday night at 7 p.m. in the Tribe's annual pink game (Feb. 2). JMU then heads to Elon to wrap up the regular-season series with the Phoenix on Sunday, Feb. 4 at 2 p.m.