JMU Tops Charleston 81-66 in CAA Quarterfinals

Thursday, March 8

Philadelphia, Pa.

5 p.m.

James Madison University

21-9

College of Charleston

7-24

Col. of Charleston

JMU

3/8/2018 7:15:00 PM | Women's Basketball

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PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – James Madison's All-CAA trio accounted for 63 points as the Dukes topped the College of Charleston 81-66 in the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball quarterfinals on Thursday evening at the Daskalakis Athletic Center.

Second-seeded JMU improved to 21-9 and advances to Friday's semifinals, where the Dukes will face the winner of Thursday's last game between No. 3 Elon and No. 6 William & Mary. No. 10 CofC fell to 7-24.

Redshirt sophomore Kelly Koshuta led all players with 25 points, including 16 in the first half. Sophomore Lexie Barrier poured in 15 points in the second half as part of a career-best 24-point effort on 10-of-14 shooting. Sophomore Kamiah Smalls added 14 in the winning effort.

PACE OF PLAY

The Dukes grabbed the early momentum, jumping out to a 9-0 lead
JMU led by as many as 11 late in the first quarter at 20-9 before the Cougars cut it to 20-16 early in the second
Leading 24-19, a Koshuta three-point play helped a quick 6-0 run to build the margin back to 30-19
JMU led by nine at the break, but CofC kept it as close as four at 49-45 and did not allow the Dukes to make it double digits until Barrier's layup with 1:27 to go to make it 56-46
The Cougars continued to keep it in the 8-12 range and trailed 63-55 with seven minutes remaining
Koshuta hit a big 3-pointer to make it a double-digit lead again, blocked a shot on the other end and Barrier added a 3-pointer for a quick six-point burst and a 69-55 lead
JMU's lead remained double-digits the rest of the way for the 81-66 win

ALL-CAA TRIO
As announced Wednesday morning, Smalls was a First Team All-CAA selection, Barrier Second Team All-CAA and Koshuta Third Team All-CAA, meaning that the award-winning trio accounted for 63 of JMU's 81 points in the contest.

HIGHLIGHTS

SOPHOMORE STRENGTH
The All-CAA trio combined with nine points from sophomore Kayla Cooper-Williams and three points from sophomore Devon Merritt to make it 75 of 81 total points in the game from JMU's sophomore class.

QUICK HITS

JMU gained a distinct advantage from the charity stripe, going 16-for-27 compared to 7-for-13 for the Cougars
The Dukes led the Cougars on the boards 39-33, including 14 offensive rebounds leading to a 17-2 advantage in second-chance points
JMU forced 20 Charleston turnovers for a 17-5 edge in points off turnovers
Charleston kept it close in the first half thanks to 7-for-9 shooting from the arc but went 2-for-9 in the second half
Tanisha Brown led Charleston with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds

TOURNAMENT NOTES

It was JMU's second CAA Tournament matchup with Charleston, having defeated the Cougars 53-50 in the 2016 quarterfinals en route to the title
It was the 16^th straight year that JMU opened the CAA Tournament with a win
JMU improved to 25-4 all-time in CAA quarterfinal games