Second-seeded James Madison Swings Into Semis With 58-49 Victory Over #7 Towson
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UPPER MARLBORO, Md. (March 15, 2013) - Second-seeded James
Madison overcame a difficult shooting performance and picked up a 59-48 victory
over #7 Towson in the quarterfinals of the CAA Women's Basketball Championship,
presented by Jani-King, on Friday evening.
JMU (22-9) advanced to the CAA semifinals for the ninth year
in a row and will face either Drexel or William & Mary on Saturday at 4:30
p.m. Towson had its three-game winning streak snapped and ended its season with
a 12-18 record.
Freshman Precious Hall led JMU with 16 points, eight of
which came in the first 5:25 of the second half as the Dukes took control of
the game by expanding a nine-point halftime lead to 17. Senior guard Tarik
Hislop added 13 points and junior Kirby Burkholder had 10 points. Redshirt
freshman Jazmon Gwathmey grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds and blocked three
shots.
Towson got a game-high 27 points from junior Tanisha
McTiller. The All-CAA guard was 7-of-16 from the floor, including 5-of-9 from
three-point range. Senior forward Michelle Peebles contributed 13 points and
eight rebounds and forward Nyree Williams snared 14 boards.
Leading 24-15 at intermission, JMU opened the second half on
a 12-4 run. Hall hit a layup and drained two three-pointers during the stretch,
with the last one putting the Dukes up 36-19 with 14:35 to go. Towson never got
closer than 11 points the rest of the way.
Both teams struggled with their shooting. JMU made just
27.8% of its field goal attempts, including 4-of-16 from three-point range,
while Towson hit only 25%, including 5-of-20 from beyond the arc. The
difference in the game was turnovers as the Tigers committed 17 and the Dukes
had only eight.
JMU jumped out to a 13-2 lead on a Hislop jumper with 13:48
left in the first half and had its nine-point halftime advantage despite
shooting just 19% (8-42) from the floor. Towson, which made only 17.2% (5-29)
of its first-half field goal attempts, got as close as six, 15-9, on a McTiller
three-pointer with 4:53 remaining.
All quarterfinal games will be available for FREE on CAA.TV.