Jan. 31, 2008

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - Despite surpassing the 60-point mark for the first time in five games, the George Mason women's basketball team fell to James Madison, 81-61, on Thursday evening at the JMU Convocation Center. The loss drops the Patriots to 8-11, 2-6 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Dukes swept the season series as they improved to 13-6, 6-2 in conference play.

Poindexter tied a season-high and led the Patriots with 12 points, while the Dukes, who held a 50.9-to-40.0 percent field goal shooting advantage, saw four players reach double figures. JMU's offense was led by Tamera Young and Lauren Jimenez, who each chipped in 20 points.

The Patriots struck first in the game with a free throw by Hobbs, but the Dukes jumped out to a 9-2 lead after 4:19 had expired in the opening period. Mason was held without a field goal for the first 6:42 of the contest, until Whitney Ward's tip-in off her own shot closed the gap to 12-4. Mason advanced further on the Dukes, using a 6-2 run to set the score at 17-10 in the Dukes' favor with 10:27 to go.

That margin held as the teams traded baskets, until Jasmin Lawrence's 3-pointer put the Dukes up 24-14, which matched their largest lead of the half until Young's two free throws increased the lead to 30-19 with 3:08 remaining in the half. That score held for nearly two minutes, as neither team added to their total until Quigley's up-and-under basket moved the Patriots within nine. The teams exchanged a pair of points to set the halftime margin at 34-25.

Out of the locker room, the back-and-forth battle continued. The Patriots moved within eight on a trey by Wade, but Jimenez answered right back with her third basket of the half at the 14:44 mark, leaving the score 46-36 in JMU's favor. The Dukes would expand their lead, using a 15-2 run to take a 61-38 advantage with 9:38 left in the game. Quigley ended the run by connecting on a free throw at the 9:16 mark, but Dawn Evans' 3-pointer with 8:14 left continued the Dukes' offensive success.

Mason continued fighting for the remainder of the game, closing the gap to 71-52 after Quigley's second trey of the evening. The Patriots saw three players tie or set new season-highs on the day, as juniors Brittney Wilkins and Jessica Smith had their best offensive outputs of the year with nine and eight points, respectively.

Mason returns home Sunday afternoon to face VCU at 2 p.m. The game marks Mason's "Pack The House Day," when it will compete with other CAA schools for the highest single-game attendance, as well as attempt to break the school's women's basketball single-game mark of 3,152.