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.