James Madison senior forward Tamera Young scored 20 points and freshman point guard Dawn Evans added 19 as the women’s basketball team defeated No. 16 George Washington 80-55, continuing to silence any talk of a “rebuilding” year.
Madison (5-0) last beat a ranked opponent March 16, 1991 at No. 1 Penn State in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Coach Kenny Brooks was a senior on the JMU men’s basketball team that year.
“To beat a nationally-ranked team — I think it gives us some recognition,” Brooks said. “It’s something we haven’t done before in my tenure. I don’t know if it was more ‘let’s go out and beat a nationally ranked team’ or ‘let’s go out and protect our home-court winning streak.’”
JMU more than doubled George Washington’s rebound total Tuesday night as the Dukes extended their home winning streak to 29 games, the longest active streak in Division I women’s basketball. JMU grabbed 53 rebounds and GW (5-2) had only 26, as Young led the Dukes with 14.
“I think we’re always gonna be a really good rebounding basketball team, which I thought was a big key for tonight,” Brooks said. “I think we’re starting to mold our identity, and we’re starting to mold it around defense and effort.”
JMU focused on playing at a fast tempo and pushed the ball for fast breaks to negate the size advantage the Colonials had. But the GW frontcourt of twins Jessica and Jazmine Adair still shot a combined 10-of-19, while Jessica went 7-10 from the free throw line.
“In the second half we got the pace down to where we wanted, we started to get the ball inside to our big kids,” GW coach Joe McKeown said. “I felt like we were starting to get control of the game and then they banged home a couple shots and they got on the offensive glass.”
JMU 6-foot-2 senior forward Jennifer Brown handled much of the guarding duties of 6-4 Jessica and 6-3 Jazmine, and Brown’s 11 rebounds were second-best on the team.
“Madison is really quick to the ball,” McKeown said. “If teams are going to beat them, you’re going to have to keep them off the glass.”
Brown tied her season high with 16 points on 4-6 shooting. She shot 8-9 from the free-throw line in a game where JMU shot 17-27 from the line.
“We have a chip on our shoulder,” Brown said. “Every game we go out and we feel like we have to prove ourselves every time. It doesn’t matter how big the opponent, or anything like that.”
Madison led 37-26 at halftime, and only let the Colonials get within seven points before extending their lead. Evans made four of six 3-point attempts and continued solid play after being named Colonial Athletic Association Rookie of the Week on Nov. 19.
McKeown offered praise and said, “Their point guard this year impressed me — the freshman. She plays with a lot of poise.”
Madison plays Savannah State (2-1) on Friday at the JMU Convocation Center. The Dukes won 77-48 in last year’s contest, also played in Harrisonburg.
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