Dukes Overcome Third-Quarter Deficit to Clip Arkansas State, 64-57

Thursday, January 4

Harrisonburg, Va.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

10-4,2-0Sun Belt

Arkansas State

7-5,1-1Sun Belt

Arkansas St.

James Madison

Dukes Overcome Third-Quarter Deficit to Clip Arkansas State, 64-57

1/4/2024 11:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison trailed 43-33 at the 5:33 mark of the third quarter before outscoring Arkansas State 31-14 down the stretch to earn a 64-57 victory on Thursday night inside the Atlantic Union Bank Center.

The comeback was aided by double-doubles from junior Ashanti Barnes (17 points, 10 rebounds) and redshirt junior Kseniia Kozlova (13 points, 15 rebounds). For Barnes, the performance marked a career-high in points and her first double-double at the Division I level. Meanwhile, Kozlova's effort on the glass was a personal best.

JMU (10-4, 2-0 SBC) dominated with 55 rebounds, compared to 32 for the Red Wolves (7-5, 1-1 SBC). Moreover, the Dukes pulled down 23 offensive boards, while A-State recorded 24 defensive rebounds.

In addition to Barnes' and Kozlova's output, redshirt junior Jamia Hazell finished with 11 points and led all players with four assists. Hazell and sophomore Chloe Sterling were both +13 on the night, with Sterling (two points, four rebounds), graduate student Carole Miller (four points, one steal) and Mikaya Tynes (four points, one steal) all contributing off the bench.

For Arkansas State, Izzy Higginbottom registered 18 points on 6-17 (.353) from the field. Annaliese Griffin chipped in with 14 points and six rebounds, while Kendra Gillispie wrangled in a team-best seven boards.

HOW IT HAPPENED
First Quarter

Senior Hevynne Bristow completed an and-one opportunity to make it a 13-13 game late in the opening frame.
Arkansas State finished strong with a jumpshot from Higginbottom and a physical layup from Melodie Kapinga to give the Red Wolves a 19-15 advantage after one.
Redshirt junior Steph Ouderkirk knocked down a pair of triples for six points in the period.

Second Quarter

Back-and-forth action continued until a three-pointer from Barnes and a score from Kozlova gave the Dukes a 30-25 lead with 3:10 left in the half.
A-State fought back to trail by one, 31-30, heading into halftime.
Barnes provided a spark off the bench with seven points in the quarter.

Third Quarter

The Red Wolves jumped out to a 40-33 lead at the media timeout, going 6-of-7 (.857) from the line.
Arkansas State led by as much as 10, 43-33, before the Dukes mounted a comeback with scoring fueled by Barnes (6), Miller (4) and Tynes (4) to give JMU a 51-47 edge with one quarter left.
The Dukes' defense held A-State without a made field goal for the final 4:27 of the frame.

Fourth Quarter

JMU extended its advantage to eight (55-47) early in the fourth with back-to-back scores from Hazell.
The Dukes then took their biggest lead of the night as part of a 28-7 run to make it 61-50 with 6:20 to play.
Arkansas State answered with a 7-0 run to trail 61-57 with two minutes left, but Kozlova broke the run with an offensive rebound, her 14th, which tied a career-high and gave the Dukes a 63-57 lead with a putback.

GAME NOTES

With the win, JMU took a 2-1 lead in the all-time series and improved to 2-0 against A-State as Sun Belt Conference foes.
Kozlova picked up her second double-double of the season with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, her fourth double-double of her career and the second this season. Moreover, 15 boards is the most by a Duke since Jaylin Carodine pulled down 17 versus Delaware on March 5, 2022.
JMU out-rebounded the Red Wolves 55-32, the 13th time in 14 contests the Dukes have won the rebounding battle this season.
The Dukes finished with more second chance points (23-6), bench points (30-13) and points in the paint (38-24).
Through 14 games, JMU's average rebounding margin is +15.0, the seventh-best margin in Division I. Moreover, the Dukes have out-rebounded their opponent by 20-plus five times.
The 23 offensive rebounds are tied for the highest against a Division I opponent this season. James Madison also corralled 23 offensive boards against Longwood on Nov. 15.
The Dukes held A-State to .176 (3-of-18) from behind the arc, tied for the Red Wolves' lowest total made threes this season. Coming into today's game, A-State was averaging 34.4 percent from three.
JMU is 6-1 at home so far in 2023-24 and has won five consecutive games in Harrisonburg.
Prior to last night, the last time two Dukes finished with double-doubles was last season with Kiki Jefferson (20 points, 12 rebounds) and Kozlova (15 points, 14 rebounds) in 58-54 win at Texas State on February 16.

UP NEXT
The Dukes will remain in Harrisonburg as they welcome Louisiana on Saturday, Jan. 6. The opening tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. and will stream on ESPN+.