Dukes Fend Off Blue Hens for 56-53 Victory

Friday, February 16

Newark, Del.

7 p.m.

James Madison University

13-117-8 | CAA

Delaware

8-515-9 | CAA

James Madison

Delaware

2/16/2018 9:19:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score

NEWARK, Del. – A battle to the end, James Madison women's basketball walked away with the 56-53 win at Delaware on Friday night to maintain its hold on first place in the Colonial Athletic Association standings (13-1 CAA, 17-8 overall).

With 8.9 seconds left in the game, Delaware was able to inbound the ball and set up the look from 3-point range. UD's Bailey Kargo took the shot from the right side, but sophomore Kamiah Smalls flew in for the block, which deflected into the waiting hands of sophomore Lexie Barrier and allowed the Dukes to tick off the final seconds of play.

Smalls and Barrier both finished in double figures, scoring 11 and 14 points respectively. Redshirt sophomore Kelly Koshuta led the way with 16 points as JMU finished shooting 43.1 percent (22-51) from the floor. The Dukes limited the Blue Hens to 29.2 percent (19-65) shooting.

PACING THE ACTION

Delaware opened the game on a 7-0 run.
JMU countered with a 10-0 run to take its first lead.
The Dukes led by as many as four (16-12, 7:10 2Q) in the first half.
There were four tied scores and three lead changes over the first 20 minutes.
JMU & UD were tied once more (22-22) after the first Blue Hens make of the third quarter, but the Dukes would reclaim the lead for good on the next basket.
The Dukes led by as many as eight (49-41, 9:35 4Q).

FROM THE ARC
Lexie Barrier went 4-for-6 from 3-point range, tying her career high with four makes.

ON THE GLASS
Delaware won the battle of the boards 41-35, but was only able to pick up an 8-6 advantage in second-chance points. Logan Reynolds tied her career high with six rebounds, tied for the team lead in boards with Kayla Cooper-Williams and Kamiah Smalls.

DISHIN' THE ACTION
Logan Reynolds had a career-high nine assists, representing over half the Dukes' assists in the game (17). Kamiah Smalls had four assists at halftime to power JMU to six first-half assists on eight made shots, finishing with five.

OFF THE BLOCK
Kayla Cooper-Williams made three blocks in the contest, pushing her to 54 for the season (t-6^th) and 125 for her career (5^th). Kamiah Smalls tied her career high with two blocks, including the denial of Delaware's final 3-point shot attempt in the final seconds of action.

ON THE LINE
JMU went 7-for-7 from the free throw line, the first 100 percent shooting percentage from the stripe this season. Kayla Cooper-Williams went 4-for-4, Kelly Koshuta went 2-for-2 and Devon Merritt went 1-for-1.

CONSISTENCY ON THE FLOOR
Senior Hailee Barron appeared in her 126th consecutive game, in sole possession of the third-longest streak in JMU history. She needs to appear in the next two games to move into sole possession of second all-time, which would pass JMU Hall of Famer and WNBA standout Tamera Young ('08).

IN THE SERIES
JMU has won its last 11 meetings against Delaware.

UP NEXT
The Dukes are back home on Sunday, Feb. 18 for a 2 p.m. contest with UNCW. The day is the Dukes' annual Play4Kay game, and fans are encouraged to wear pink in support of the fight against breast cancer. The first 400 fans in attendance will receive a pink rally towels. Breast cancer survivors are eligible for one (1) free ticket to the game, using the promo code PINKOUT.