Balanced Team Effort Leads JMU Past Cougars

Friday, February 15

Harrisonburg, VA.

noon

James Madison University

19-4, 11-1

College of Charleston

7-16, 3-9

Charleston

James Madison

2/15/2019 3:43:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

HARRISONBURG, Va. – A complete team effort pushes James Madison women's basketball past the College of Charleston 76-35 on Friday afternoon. The Dukes extended their win streak to seven games for the longest streak of the season.

The Dukes (19-4, 11-1) started off with the first basket but Charleston (7-16, 3-9) went on a 5-0 run to take a lead. After an exchange of baskets back and forth and a couple of lead changes, JMU rattled off a 7-0 run at the end of the frame to lead 15-9. The Dukes held the Cougars to just 18.2% from the field in the opening quarter.

A 5-0 run from Kayla Cooper-Williams added onto the run to end the first quarter put the Dukes up 20-9. The Dukes continued to dominate shooting 41.2% from the field in the quarter to lead 31-16 at the half. Logan Reynolds had seven assists at the half, which tied her season-high.

Charleston opened the second half on a 6-0 run to trail just 33-22, but JMU quickly put the game back into its hands. The Dukes shot 7-13 (53.8%) from the floor in the quarter and outscored the Cougars 23-12 to lead it 54-28 with just one quarter to play.

Just like in the third quarter, the Cougars opened the final quarter on a 5-0 run. However, the Dukes defense would continue to cause havoc on the Charleston side of the floor. JMU shot 52.9% (9-17) in the frame and rattled off a 22-2 run to end the game. JMU picked up its 11^th conference victory and has now won 24-straight games in the Convocation Center with its 76-35 win over the Cougars.

GAME NOTES

Kayla Cooper-Williams recorded 5 blocks to total 55 on the season, which is tied for a program record for blocks by a junior and is tied for sixth most blocks in a season by an individual
Reynolds finished the game with a career-high nine assists. The senior captain turned the ball over zero times. She has turned the ball over four times over the last five games while dishing out 20 assists.
This marked the 25^th consecutive game Kamiah Smalls has scored 10 or more points
Cooper-Williams was one-point shy of a double-double with nine points and 12 rebounds
Cooper-Williams grabbed 12 rebounds for the 11^th time this season grabbing 10 or more
The bench scored 40 of the Dukes 76 points
This marked the fourth opponent beaten by 40 or more points
The 35 points allowed was the sixth time holding an opponent to under 40 points which is the most in a season since 1973-74 when it happened seven times
The Dukes dished out a season-high 21 assists
JMU shot 53.3% in the second-half, its best second half shooting percentage against league opponents this season
JMU's 11 steals were one shy of a season-best of 12 which was completed at Charleston
Eleanore Marciszewski scored a career-high nine points going 3-3 from the field
Both Jaylin Carodine (2-2) and Breyenne Bellerand (2-2) tied their career highs of four points
This was the sixth game the Dukes held all opponents to under 10 points

WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
Coach O'Regan: "First off I want to say that I'm really thankful for the crowd that showed up today. Having 1,800 people here on a Friday at noon without a promotion is a testament to our community"

Logan Reynolds: "We understand our roles individually, we make it a point to be a team effort in everything we do. So, it's not a surprise when people step up and score"

Kamiah Smalls: "We're worried about James Madison Basketball from the start to the third quarter media timeout we weren't ourselves. When we fall out of that, we're not making a statement. We need to attack them on defense, attack the ball and play James Madison basketball"

UP NEXT
JMU hosts UNCW for the Play4Kay game on Sunday, Feb. 17 at 2 p.m. in the Convocation Center.