Dukes turn back Patriots

Carolyn Walser / senior photographer Sophomore center Meredith Alexis goes up for a shot against GMU's Kristin Higy during the Dukes' 56-52 victory over the Patriots Sunday at the Convocation Center. Alexis finished with 11 points and eight rebounds. Freshman forward Tamera Young finished with a career-high 22 points.

Freshman Tamera Young dropped a career-high 22 points in the JMU women’s basketball team’s 56-52 win over conference foe George Mason University Sunday afternoon at the Convocation Center.

"She’s only a freshman and she’s still trying to feel her way," JMU coach Kenny Brooks said. "She has to understand that she can’t sit there and watch. She has to be aggressive and today she did that and had one of her best games."

Young’s previous career-high was 21 against Cornell University Jan. 4. Sunday, most of those points came off late-game free-throws. The Wilmington, N.C., native hit 8 of 12 from the charity stripe while the rest of team went 5 of 10.

"Young was a different player than she was in Fairfax," George Mason coach Debbie Taneyhill said.

One of Young’s biggest free-throws came with 34 seconds to play in the second half.

After Mason tied it up 50-50 on a Jen Daniels 3-pointer, JMU sophomore Shirley McCall connected on 1 of 2 free-throws to give JMU a 1-point lead.

With 34 seconds to go, Young stepped to the line and knocked down both shots to extend the Dukes’ lead to 53-50.

"When I got fouled, I was confident in my free-throw shot," Young said. "Then I was thinking, ‘Thank God, thank God’ when the first one went in."

Free-throws have been an issue for the Dukes all season — specifically free-throws late in games. In the Colonial Athletic Asssocation, JMU is ranked fourth, shooting 67 percent from the line overall, but at times, the Dukes have struggled in clutch situations. Unfortunately for coach Kenny Brooks, the trend insists on continuning.

"Sometimes you watch them, and sometimes you don’t," Brooks said.

The first time GMU and Madison squared off Jan. 14. sophomore point guard Andrea Benvenuto was on the line for the Dukes shooting a one-and-one with 12.8 seconds to play. She was unable to convert and the score remained 42-40 in the favor of the Dukes.

JMU went on to drop the contest, 50-48 in overtime.

This time, Benvenuto once again found herself at the stripe in the closing seconds — this time shooting two with 11 seconds to go and her team up by 1.

"I was planning on making the first one and not worrying about the second," Benvenuto said.

She connected on the first but missed the second, pushing JMU’s advantage to 2, 54-52.

"I just have to learn from it and concentrate and get better for the next time," Benvenuto said. "We work a lot on free-throws in practice. We shoot extra after. It’s important to step up and be confident and know you’re going to make it."

Benvenuto finished the game with 8 points and tied a season-high in assists with six.

"She made three [shots] today," Brooks said. "She did a great job making the adjustment in her stance. She widened it. Her last the shot was the most confident one she’s taken."

JMU put three players in double-figures against the Patriots. Led by Young’s 22 points, sophomore center Meredith Alexis scored 11 and McCall added 10.

George Mason also finished with three players in double-digits. The Patriots were paced by Moni Akintunde who scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds in her first career start.

"She didn’t play too much the first time [JMU played GMU]," McCall said. "She played in spurts. Today, she was just a beast on the boards and it was hard to keep up with her. It was an experience."

Akintunde was followed by Daniels who had 12 points and Julie Flanders who posted 10.

JMU sealed the victory when Young connected on one of two free throws with three seconds left — keeping with a tradition of nail-bitters between JMU and Mason.

"There have been very few times the past few years when we’ve played JMU and it hasn’t come down to the wire," Tanneyhill said. "

GMU 23 29 — 52
JMU 27 29 — 56

George Mason (4-7 CAA, 8-12) — Kristin Higy, Moni Akintunde 18, Julie Flanders 10, Jen Daniels 12, Lauren Hediger, Tracy Ann Holness 5, Keyhana Wakefield 7, Erika Hussa. Totals 17-54 15-18 52. 3-point goals: Daniels 2, Holness.

JMU (5-6 CAA, 12-8) — Tamera Young 22, Shirley McCall 10, Meredith Alexis 11, Andrea Benvenuto 8, Lesley Dickinson, Nina Uqdah , Jasmi Lawrence 1, Mary Beth Culbertson, Krystal Brooks 4. Totals: 19-48 13-22 56. 3-point goals: Young 4, Benvenuto.