JMU Upends SJU on Strength of Five Double-Digit Scorers

Wednesday, December 28

Philadelphia, Pa.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

6-4

St. Joseph's

3-9

James Madison

Saint Joseph's

12/28/2016 10:04:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score @JMUWBasketball WBB on Facebook WBB on Instagram Box Score

PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – James Madison women's basketball (6-4) used a 15-4 third quarter to upend Saint Joseph's (3-9), 85-72, on Wednesday night.

JMU took its first and final lead of the day when redshirt senior guard Precious Hall drained a 3-pointer with 14 seconds left in the third quarter to cap the 15-4 stretch after trailing by nine at halftime. The Dukes trailed the Hawks for the first 29:31 of the contest and by as many as 17 points in the first quarter.

WBB: Precious Hall sank this three-point shot to give the Dukes a 55-53 lead over the Hawks. pic.twitter.com/dNA9CBYmO3
— Breeze Sports (@TheBreezeSports) December 29, 2016

The Dukes featured five in double figures for the first time this season, led by freshman guard Lexie Barrier's career-best 22 points. Hall and redshirt junior forward Tasia Butler finished with 17 and 15 points, respectively. Freshman guard Kamiah Smalls and sophomore guard Aneah Young each rounded out the scoring with 11 points apiece, marking the seventh double-figure game for Smalls and a career-high scoring night for Young.

SJU opened the game shooting a perfect 7-for-7 from the floor to take a 17-4 lead, forcing the Dukes into an early timeout. The Hawks closed the first half shooting 54.5 percent (18-33) compared to the Dukes' 38.2 percent (13-34). In the second half, JMU stepped up both its offensive and defensive pressure, limiting SJU to 28.6 percent shooting (10-35) while firing off for 51.4 percent shooting (18-35).

TAKE CARE
JMU turned the ball over just 10 times on Wednesday, the first performance of 10 or less giveaways this season. Saint Joseph's had 14 turnovers, including six steals by the Dukes.

BARRIER NIGHT
Lexie Barrier poured in a career-best 13 points (5-8) before halftime and finished the game with a career-high 22 points against the Hawks. She went 9-of-16 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from 3-point range, to reach career marks.

STARTING STRONG
Sophomore Aneah Young got her first collegiate start on Wednesday against Saint Joseph's in her 31^st appearance for the Dukes. She went 4-for-9 from the floor and scored a career-best 11 points over a career-high 30 minutes played in the win. This marks her first double-digit scoring effort for the Dukes.

AT THE LINE
The Dukes made 23 trips to the line, converting 17 attempts, while the Hawks made just 10 trips, converting seven attempts.

ALL-TIME SCORING UPDATE
Precious Hall scored 17 points to up her career total to 1,746. Sitting in fifth place on JMU's career scoring chart, she is 14 points from taking fourth place from Meredith Alexis, who closed her career with 1,760 points.

HOMECOMING LOVE
Both Kamiah Smalls and Devon Merritt were able to make their collegiate debuts in front of a hometown crowd. Smalls is from Philadelphia, Pa. while Merritt is from Reading, Pa., about an hour away.

UP NEXT
JMU returns to the Convocation Center for a three-game home stand, the longest of the season thus far. The stretch starts on Dec. 31 with the nonconference finale against Wake Forest. The game starts at approximately 4:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the men's team, who opens CAA play against Drexel at 2 p.m.