Senior sendoff
Dukes wrap up season tonight against Towson
By Caroline Morris, staff writer
Posted on March 1, 2007

March madness started a week early for the women’s basketball team when it lost back-to-back games last week at Delaware and Old Dominion, after starting 15-0 in the Colonial Athletic Association. In addition to falling from the Associated Press Top 25 ranking, where they’d sat comfortably for the last four weeks, the Dukes also fell to second in the conference (they are tied with Delaware), one game behind ODU.

“It was kind of going toe-to-toe and it was very evident as we went down the stretch,” coach Kenny Brooks said of Sunday’s ODU game that changed leads 10 times. “The last three to four minutes were one of the most exciting finishes that I think I’ve ever been involved in. Every time they would score a basket, we would answer the bell. We just could never get over the top.”

The Dukes have a chance to turn their two-game losing streak into just a blip on the radar when they return to the Convocation Center and face Towson in their final regular-season game. Thanks to Bowling Green falling to Ohio University on Saturday, JMU’s 25-game home winning streak is now the longest in the nation. If the Dukes win, they will have gone back-to-back seasons without a defeat on their home court, which has only been accomplished once before at the Convocation Center from the 1987 to 89.

Most people don’t see the Tigers, who sit at 8-9 in the conference, as much of a threat to the streak, but Brooks emphasizes the importance of concentrating on the game before thinking about the tournament.

“Towson’s a good opponent and they had a very big win the other night,” Brooks said of the Tigers’ victory over UNC-Wilmington last weekend. “A win here could put them at .500. But it’s great to be back home.”

As if the win streak didn’t make Thursday’s game significant enough, it will be the last chance for seniors Meredith Alexis, Andrea Benvenuto, Lesley Dickinson, Shameena Felix and Shirley McCall to run through the purple tunnel and onto the floor at the Convo floor.

“It’s going to be really sad to have our last game at the Convocation Center because it’s been so good for us,” Benvenuto said.

The senior class, along with junior Tamera Young, has broken almost every record in the books at JMU this season. The squad boasts four 1,000-point scorers and Alexis became the school’s all-time leader in points (1,677), rebounds (1,255), field goals (667) and games started (118). Dickinson holds the school’s record for free throws (440) and Benvenuto owns the single-season assist record with 190.

“I’m going to be like ‘Oh my gosh, my last first basket in the Convo,’” Alexis said. “Tears are going to be falling Thursday.”

Pregame ceremonies ought to make it a very emotional night for the Dukes, as many of their parents will be in attendance to catch their final home game at JMU.

“My mom is the most emotional person in the world,” said Benvenuto, whose mother is flying down from Canada with the rest of her family to see the 5-foot-7 point guard play one more time. “She cried at ‘Mrs. Doubtfire.’ So I think my family is going to be a wreck; I think I’m going to be a wreck. I even think our coaching staff is going to be bad.”

After the tears have dried and the Convo has emptied, the Dukes will travel to Delaware once again for the CAA tournament beginning March 8 in Newark, where Benvenuto knows the atmosphere will be tense.

“Even at our other game last week, I felt like the whole state of Delaware showed up,” Benvenuto said. “They had tremendous fan support, but I think we did too, and I think we will at the tournament.”