WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES 81-75 AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE

Sunday, December 12

Murfreesboro, Tenn.

1:30 p.m.

James Madison University

5-4

Middle Tenn.

7-3

Team	1	2	F
James Madison	44	31	75
Middle Tennessee State	40	41	81

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL LOSES 81-75 AT MIDDLE TENNESSEE STATE

12/12/2010 9:51:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

MURFREESBORO, Tenn., Dec. 12, 2011 -- In a battle of two top-10 mid-major conference teams, number seven Middle Tennessee State beat 10th-ranked James Madison 81-75 Sunday (Dec. 12) at the Murphy Athletic Center.

The Blue Raiders outscored the Dukes 11-4 over the final 2:25 to pull out the win. MTSU's Icelyn Elie knocked down a three-pointer to put her team ahead 73-71 at 2:25. Then Ebony Rowe's put-back at 1:16 gave MTSU a 75-71 lead.

JMU redshirt junior forward Lauren Whitehurst (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) hit the second of a two-shot free throw with 30.4 seconds to play to cut the lead to 75-72.

However, the Dukes were forced to foul down the stretch, and the Blue Raiders converted all six of their foul shots in the final 28.4 seconds to secure the victory. Anne Marie Lanning hit four free throws and Elie made two.

JMU senior guard Dawn Evans (Clarksville, Tenn./Northeast) led all players with 27 points. Also in double figures for the Dukes were senior guard Courtney Hamner (Manassas, Va./Osbourn Park) with a season-high tying 15 and senior center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen, N.J./North Bergen) with 10. Jimenez also grabbed 10 rebounds.

Elie led MTSU with 25 points and also pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds. Rowe added 21 points, Lanning scored 17, and Tina Stewart finished with 10.

JMU had a hot hand early and scored 16 unanswered points to build a 12-point (23-11) lead with 12:05 to play in the first half. Hamner opened the run with a three-pointer and scored seven of the Dukes' 16 points.

After the Blue Raiders missed seven straight shots while the Dukes pulled ahead, MTSU rebounded to connect on seven of its next nine attempts in a 16-6 scoring run. That cut the JMU lead to two, 29-27, at 7:49.

JMU got the lead back up to six (35-29 at 6:00) but then missed five straight field-goal tries while the Blue Raiders outscored the Dukes 9-2. MTSU took a 38-37 lead on Rowe's short jumper with 2:32 remaining.

However, JMU closed the half with Evans scoring six points while MTSU got just a single basket, and the Dukes led 44-40 at the break.

In the opening five minutes of the second half JMU led by no more than five points (54-49 at 15:51). MTSU then used back-to-back threes by Korni Jones and Lanning to tie the game at 56-56 and then go up 59-56 with 13:54 left.

In a span of just under 12 minutes in the second period, there were eight lead changes and five ties. JMU last held the lead on a Jimenez put-back at 3:08 that put the Dukes ahead 71-70.

But JMU hit only one of six from the field in the remaining minutes, while MTSU hit two of six field-goal tries before finishing off the game at the foul line.

NOTE:
* Dawn Evans increased her career three-point total to 315 and moved from third to second place on the CAA's all-time list. She passed Narissa Suber (Drexel, 2004-08), who had 312 career threes. The CAA record of 323 is held by Old Dominion's TJ Jordan (2004-08).