Women's Hoops Outlasts Southern Miss, 63-54

Saturday, January 7

Hattiesburg, Miss.

3 p.m. (2 p.m. CT)

James Madison University

14-2,4-0Sun Belt

Southern Miss

10-5,3-1Sun Belt

James Madison

Southern Miss.

Kseniia Kozlova vs. Old Dominion 12312022

1/7/2023 5:10:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Highlights

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – James Madison knocked down 47.7% (21-of-44) of its shots to top Southern Miss 63-54 Saturday afternoon inside the Reed Green Coliseum.

JMU (14-2, 4-0 SBC) has won 11 consecutive games and is 8-0 on the road in 2022-23. The Lady Eagles (10-5, 3-1 SBC) hope to get back in the win column when they host Arkansas State on Jan. 12

Senior Kiki Jefferson led all scorers with 19 points and was a huge factor at the charity stripe, going 8-for-9 (88.9%) from the line. With her offensive production, Jefferson is now 10th all-time in scoring in program history with 1,504 points. She trails Jazmon Gwathmey (2011-16) who wrapped up her career with 1,555. JMU Hall of Famer Dawn Evans (2007-11) holds the record at 2,667.

Junior Kseniia Kozlova added 18 points in the win, shooting a perfect 7-of-7 from the floor. Classmate Jamia Hazell chipped in with 10 points while Jefferson, graduate student Caroline Germond, and junior Steph Ouderkirk all recorded three assists.

How It Happened

Jefferson kicked the game off with a transition three-pointer followed by a fast-break layup with an assist from Germond.
Southern Miss managed to get on the board halfway through the period but was then held scoreless for the remaining 4:30 to give the Dukes a 21-6 advantage after one.
The Lady Eagles responded with back-to-back scores and stops to open the second quarter.
Southern Miss got hot in the second quarter, highlighted by a 7-0 run. The Lady Eagles' defense stifled the Dukes, resulting in a scoring drought of over three minutes.
JMU held on to the lead but saw its advantage cut to three with a score of 28-25 at the intermission.
James Madison came out strong in the third, going on an 8-0 run early in the period to make it 39-29 at the 5:43 mark.
Kozlova converted on a pair of and-one opportunities to help give the Dukes a 47-37 lead heading into the final quarter.
Southern Miss cut the deficit to three, 47-44, with 7:32 remaining.
The Dukes made the most of their opportunities from the line, hitting 8-of-9 in the fourth to seal the deal with a 63-54 victory.

Game Notes

JMU now owns a 1-0 record in the all-time series against Southern Miss.
With the win, James Madison is the only Sun Belt Conference team without a loss in league play.
At 8-0 on the road, the Dukes have the second-most true road wins in the country behind Columbia with nine. Moreover, JMU is one win away from tying the 1973-74 team's 9-0 record away from home.
The Dukes are currently riding an 11-game winning streak. The last time JMU had a winning streak of 10 or more in a single season was 13 straight in 2018-19. That season, James Madison won every game between Jan. 20 through March 9 before falling to Hofstra, 57-50, in the CAA Quarterfinals on March 14.
JMU held the Lady Eagles to 1-of-14 (7.14%) from three, the best three-point defense in terms of the number of makes and percentage for the Dukes this season.
Germond knocked down 2-of-4 (50.0%) from deep. She's hit multiple threes in three of the last five games. The graduate student recorded just one outing with multiple makes from the beyond the arc in her first nine games this season.
Additionally, Germond finished with three assists, the ninth consecutive game she has dished out three or more assists.
Against Old Dominion (Dec. 31) and Marshall (Jan. 5), the Dukes managed to make just four three-pointers. James Madison knocked down four triples at halftime versus Southern Miss.
James Madison committed 22 turnovers, the most for the program all season. Previously, the Dukes had a season-high 19 turnovers at Hampton on Dec. 17.
JMU pulled down just 36 rebounds, the second-lowest mark for the team in 2022-23.
The Dukes never trailed, leading for 39:27.

Up Next
James Madison will return to Harrisonburg for a four-game homestand from Jan. 12-21. The Dukes host App State first on Thursday, Jan. 12 (7 p.m.), followed by Georgia State on Saturday, Jan. 14 (4 p.m.) In the subsequent week, JMU welcomes Georgia Southern for a Thursday night clash on Jan. 19 (7 p.m.) and will cap off the homestand versus Troy on Saturday, Jan. 21 (4 p.m.).