JMU Falls at West Virginia 67-55 in WNIT

Friday, March 23

Morgantown, W.Va.

5:30 p.m.

James Madison University

23-11

West Virginia

24-11

James Madison

West Virginia

3/23/2018 7:50:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Box Score

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia started the fourth quarter with a 9-0 run, pulling away from a tie game to defeat James Madison 67-55 in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) round of 16 on Friday evening at the WVU Coliseum.

JMU ended its season at 23-11 and achieved at least 23 victories for the 13^th consecutive season. WVU improved to 24-11 and will host St. John's on Sunday in the quarterfinals.

Redshirt sophomore forward Kelly Koshuta led all players with 22 points and nine rebounds for JMU. Sophomores Kamiah Smalls and Lexie Barrier contributed 10 and nine points, respectively.

PACE OF PLAY

WVU jumped out to a quick 8-2 lead only to see JMU use a 6-0 burst to tie the score at 10-10
The teams traded baskets the rest of the quarter with JMU take a 21-20 lead at the end of the period
The Mountaineers appeared to take control in the second quarter, opening the stanza with a 15-0 run
JMU scored the final five points of the quarter to trail by nine at the break, 35-26
The Dukes trailed by six in the third quarter at 42-36 but scored six unanswered to tie it at 42-42
JMU took a lead at 46-45 and ended the period tied at 48-48
WVU had another significant run to start the fourth quarter, scoring the first nine to take a 57-48 advantage
The Dukes pulled within five at 60-55 with 1:14 remaining before the Mountaineers pulled away for the final margin of 67-55

NOTEWORTHY NUMBERS

Both teams shot well at the charity stripe with JMU going 9-for-10 (90 percent) and WVU 16-for-20 (80 percent)
WVU led rebounds 42-35
The Dukes shot 33 percent for the game, which included 4-for-23 (17 percent) from the arc and 17-for-40 on two-point field goals
JMU fell to 17-8 all-time in the WNIT, including 2-6 on the road
Koshuta topped 20 points for the fourth time this year, matching Smalls for team-high honors
Three of Koshuta's 20-point efforts have come in the last six games, a stretch of averaging 18.5 points per game compared to averaging 10.75 in JMU's first 28 games
Sophomore Kayla Cooper-Williams had one block in the game to tie her own JMU single-season record for blocks with 71
Senior guard Hailee Barron finished her JMU career with 135 consecutive games played, good for second all-time behind Tarik Hislops's 140 games
WVU had four players in double figures and a fifth with nine points. The Mountaineers were led by Kristina King with 17 points, six rebounds and three blocks plus Katrina Pardee with 16 points and five rebounds. Naomi Davenport scored 10 points, nine rebounds, four assists and three steals with Teana Muldrow totaling nine points and 10 rebounds while Chania Ray chipped in 10 points