HARRISONBURG, Va. ? The James Madison basketball team jumped out to an 11-0 lead and claimed a 74-56 victory over the Towson basketball team on Thursday night. Junior Katrina Wheeler scored the first 10 points of the game for the Tigers (8-4, 0-2 CAA) who dropped their second straight contest.
The Dukes jumped out to an 11-0 lead and extended it to 16-4 with 15:14 to go in the first half on a three-pointer by Dawn Evans. A basket followed by a free throw from Wheeler at 12:10 made it a 16-7 game. James Madison answered with 12-0 run that gave the Dukes a 28-7 lead with 7:55 to play in the half. Wheeler converted a three-point play at 7:44 to make it a 28-10 game. The two teams continued to battle up and down the court with a three-pointer by Evans at 2:24, marking it a 44-17 game. The Tigers hit back-to-back threes in the final minutes of the half. James Madison took a 46-25 lead into the locker room at the break.
James Madison continued to hit its shots to open the second half and held a 54-29 lead with 16:22 to go in the game. Towson responded by going on a 13-2 run to make it a 56-42 game with 11:30 to play. The Tigers were 11-of-12 from the foul line during that stretch. Sophomore Dovile Miliauskaite hit all four of her shots from the line during that stretch while junior Shanae Baker-Brice connected on three of her four. The two teams continued to trade baskets with a pair of free throws by Courtney Hamner at 5:04 putting the home team up 67-45. The Tigers outscored the Dukes 11-6 over the final five minutes as James Madison claimed a 74-56 victory.
Wheeler finished with 13 points while Baker-Brice had 15. Junior Kandace Davis led the Tigers on the boards finishing with nine.
Evans, the nation's leading scorer finished with 22 points to lead the Dukes. Nina Uqdah contributed 13 for the Dukes while Jalissa Talyor had 11 points. Kisha Stokes led James Madison on the boards with 10 rebounds.
Towson returns to action on Sunday, January 11 at George Mason. The Tigers will look to snap a two-game losing streak when the two teams tip-off at 2 p.m.
