JMU Falls at Towson Despite Jefferson’s Career Day

Wednesday, February 10

Towson, Md.

2 p.m.

James Madison University

10-7,6-4CAA

Towson

10-3,5-1CAA

James Madison

Towson

2/10/2021 4:46:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score @JMUWBasketball

TOWSON, Md. – Sophomore Kiki Jefferson posted a career-high 29 points but Towson's hot shooting handed James Madison women's basketball a hard-fought 83-74 loss in Colonial Athletic Association action inside of SECU Arena on Wednesday afternoon.

The Dukes (10-7, 6-4 CAA) began the game on fire on both ends of the court but the Tigers (10-4, 5-1 CAA) used a 14-0 run between the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second to create a gap that was too much to handle for JMU.

Jefferson paced the Dukes with her fourth double-double of the season, fifth of her career, with a team-best 29 points and a game-high 10 rebounds. Jefferson lit it up from the floor, sinking 56.2 percent (9-of-16) of her shots in addition to a perfect 10-of-10 from the charity stripe.

Reigning CAA Rookie of the Week Jamia Hazell followed behind with 16 points, knocking down 2-of-3 (66.7%) from long distance with two assists and a steal. Junior Madison Green added 13 points while graduate student Anne Diouf nearly secured a double-double in a career-high tying 10 points and nine boards.

Kionna Jeter, reigning CAA Player of the Week, dropped a game-high 31 points alongside four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals to lead Towson.

How It Happened
JMU began the game with a nice 16-5 lead led by Hazell with nine points, at one point Hazell was outscoring the Tigers (9-5, 3:56 1Q). Towson's Jeter answered with a three-pointer at the 3:33 mark in the first that led to a 14-0 run through the second quarter with 8:39 remaining that gave the Tigers a lead it would not relinquish.

Towson used all of the momentum from the first quarter push to outscore the Dukes 49-32 over the middle quarters to hold a solid 63-48 lead after 30 minutes of action. In the fourth, JMU did not let up as the Dukes came back within six points (80-74, 51 seconds left) but Towson made three of its last four free throws to ice the game.

Quick Hits
- Sophomore Kiki Jefferson hit 10 or more free throws for the second time this season as she hit 11-of-11 against Elon on Jan. 17
- JMU only missed one free throw as a team, going 13-of-14 (92.9%) from the line. The Dukes made 12 consecutive attempts to end the game

Up Next
The Dukes return to action on Tuesday, Feb. 16 against UNCW at the Atlantic Union Bank Center at 2 p.m. JMU was set to play Hofstra this weekend, Feb. 13-14 but the games have been postponed due to CoVID-19 protocols within the Pride's program.