HARRISONBURG, Va. – James Madison used a 16-5 run over the final six minutes of the game to defeat the Tigers, 67-57 on Sunday afternoon. The Tigers (11-5, 2-3 CAA) had three players score in double figures led by senior guard Krystal Parnell's 17 points.

“I thought this was an extremely hard fought game,” said Coach Joe Mathews.

The Tigers scored the first five points of the game but James Madison (12-4, 3-2 CAA) used a 12-1 run to take a 12-6 lead with 13:23 to play in the half. Parnell drained a long three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer with 12:53 to play which made it a 12-9 game. Parnell hit a pair of free throws at 10:48 to give the Tigers a 15-14 lead. The Dukes would push their lead to 21-15 with seven straight points. The two teams continued to battle on both ends of the court as Kirby Burkholder scored a lay-up at 5:28 to make it a 27-19 game. The Tigers closed the first half on an 11-4 run to make it a 31-30 game at the break.

Towson shot 41.7% from the field in the first half while James Madison shot 40.6%. The Tigers held a slim 18-17 edge in the rebounding battle on Sunday.

The Tigers and Dukes battled through four ties in the first five plus minutes of the second half. Sophomore forward Nyree Williams hit a lay-up at 14:17 to tie the game at 39-39. Jasmine Gill hit one of two from the foul line at 13:31 to make it a 43-39 game. Towson used a 6-1 run to take a 45-44 lead with 11:11 to play in the game. Senior guard Sheree Ledbetter had four of the six during that spurt. A lay-up from Lauren Whitehurst at 10:13 put the Dukes ahead 51-47. A three-pointer at the shot clock buzzer from Ledbetter and a bucket from Parnell gave the Tigers a 52-51 lead with 6:55. That would be the last bucket the Tigers scored till 4:16. During that stretch, James Madison scored six unanswered points and used that to start to the 16-5 run which would give them the 67-57 victory.

Towson shot 38.5% from the field in the second half and finished the game shooting 40%. James Madison shot 35.5% from the field in the second half and 38.1% for the game. The Tigers won the rebounding battled 40-37.

Parnell had five rebounds and two assists in addition to her team-leading 17 points. Sophomore guard Tanisha McTiller had 14 points and two assists while Ledbetter came off the bench to contribute 11 points and four rebounds. Senior guard Deree Fooks and Williams each grabbed eight rebounds.

Tarik Hislop led all scorers with 21 points and four assists while Toia Giggetts finished with 12 points and eight rebounds. Burkholder had 11 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Towson returns to action when it hosts nationally ranked Delaware on Thursday, Jan. 15 at 7 p.m. in the Towson Center.

- TOWSONTIGERS.COM -