YOUNG'S RECORD EFFORT LEADS JMU OVER RADFORD
Senior guard Tamera Young (Wilmington, N.C./Laney),
the top scorer in James Madison University women's basketball history, saved
what may have been her best college effort for what could have been her last
home appearance, scoring a team-record 38 points to lead the Dukes to an 80-58
victory over Radford
in a Women's National Invitation
Tournament first-round basketball game Thursday evening at the JMU Convocation
Center.
Young, who raised her career scoring total to 2,063 points, had 14
first-half points and 24 during the final period, and also finished with a
game-high 14 rebounds and five assists.
Young hit on 14 of 24 shots from the field, including both of her
three-point attempts, and eight of 10 free throws. She broke Mindy Childress' JMU game scoring record of 35 points,
accomplished twice during the 1978-79 season.
Young's previous career scoring high was 33 points against William &
Mary during the 2006-07 season.
JMU, which raised its season record to 23-9 with the win, advances
to second-round WNIT play to meet Indiana Saturday (March 22) in a 7:05 p.m.
game in Bloomington, Ind. Indiana, in
the WNIT for the third straight season, was among the 16 tournament teams with
first-round byes. The Big Ten Conference
member Hoosiers are 18-14. They were
1-1 in the Big Ten tournament, losing in the quarterfinals after being the
event's No. 6 seed.
Young, the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Year, put
JMU in front to stay, 10-9, Thursday with a field goal with12:47 left in the
first half. The Dukes went on to lead
30-22 at halftime, but didn't pull away from the 23-12 visiting Highlanders
until the game's final five minutes.
Young had given the Dukes a 52-37 lead with a three-pointer with
9:34 remaining, but Big South Conference member Radford still was within 58-47
when she hit on two free throws for a 60-47 JMU advantage with 5:04 left. She then added nine more points before
leaving to a standing ovation with JMU up 78-57 with 1:12 to play.
JMU shot 47.1 percent (16-34) during the second half and 40.6
percent (28-69) overall while limiting Radford to 30.0 percent (18-60)
shooting. The Dukes also had a 54-37
rebounding edge and collected 24 offensive rebounds. Seven of Young's rebounds were at the offensive end, and she
converted three into immediate field goals.
The Dukes also got a scoring-rebounding "double-double"
from redshirt senior forward Jennifer Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Martin
Luther King), who had 11 points and 11 rebounds off the bench, and nine points
and 10 rebounds from junior forward Kisha
Stokes (New York, N.Y./Murry Bergtraum).
JMU led by as many as 11 points during the opening half ? 27-16 ?
with just under six minutes remaining, but went more than five minutes without
scoring while Radford pulled to within 27-22.
The Dukes got a free throw from freshman
center Lauren Jimenez (North Bergen,
N.J./North Bergen) with 20 seconds left in the half and a layup from Young at
the horn for their eight-point halftime lead.
Young's
11 early-second-half points, including her three-pointer with 9:34 left, gave
JMU its 15-point edge midway through the final half.
Radford
had three double-figure scorers.
Freshman guard Taleia Moton
(Fort Washington, Md./Suitland) had a team-high 14 points, including 12 during
the final half; senior center Kelli
Darden (Chesapeake, Va./Indian River) finished with 11 points; and senior
forward Corrie Fertitta (Roanoke,
Va./Northside) had 10 points and a team-high seven rebounds.
Moton
hit on eight of 10 free throws, all during the final half.