WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES 79-76 IN OVERTIME TO AUBURN IN MIAMI TOURNAMENT

Thursday, December 28

Coral Gables, Fla.

5 p.m.

James Madison University

8-2

Auburn

12-3

OT 1

James Madison

Auburn

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES 79-76 IN OVERTIME TO AUBURN IN MIAMI TOURNAMENT

12/28/2006 12:00:00 AM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MIAMI, Dec. 28, 2006 - Auburn outscored James Madison 11-8 in overtime to post a 79-76 win over the Dukes in the opening game of the Miami Holiday Women's Basketball Classic Thursday night.

The Tigers won their third straight game and improved to 12-3. JMU saw its six-game winning streak end as the Dukes dropped to 8-2.

JMU trailed by as many as 14 points in the first half, but in the second half the Dukes rallied and held a five-point lead, 53-48 at 8:29. JMU, which was down 37-30 at halftime, outscored Auburn 23-9 in the first 11:31 of the half. Senior center Meredith Alexis (Hanover Township, Pa./Bishop Hoban) scored 10 and junior forward Tamera Young (Wilmington, N.C./Laney) added eight points in the comeback. Young's driving layup with the shot clock running down closed out the run.

But Auburn scored the game's next six points, with five of those coming from sophomore guard Sherell Hobbs, whose three-point play at 7:27 put the Tigers ahead 54-53.

There were five lead changes and five ties in the final 7:30, and Auburn was up 66-63 with 1:30 left.

JMU senior guard Lesley Dickinson (Queens Village, N.Y./Christ the King) knocked down a three-pointer with 41.1 seconds left to tie the game at 66-66. Then Auburn sophomore guard DeWanna Bonner hit a 15-foot jumper with the shot clock about to expire, giving the Tigers a 68-66 lead with 12.2 seconds left.

On JMU's possession, Young drove to the basket but the ball was knocked out of bounds with two seconds on the clock. Senior guard Andrea Benvenuto (Ancaster, Ontario/St. Mary's) in-bounded the ball to a wide-open Dickinson, whose layup with seven-tenths of a second remaining tied the game at 68-68 and forced overtime.

In overtime the Dukes led 70-68 on a Alexis layup at 4:42. However, JMU turned the ball over on its next three possessions while Auburn scored seven unanswered points for a 75-70 lead with 2:20 left.

With Auburn leading 77-72 at 1:14, Young hit two foul shots at 1:04 and then connected on both ends of a 1+1 free throw with 44.5 seconds left to get the Dukes within one, 77-76.

Bonner made two foul shots with 14.5 seconds left for the final 79-76 margin. Alexis took an off-balance three-pointer as time expired but the ball bounced off the rim.

The game was close in the early going, and JMU held its only lead of the first half at 12-11 at the 12:55 mark.