Harrisonburg, Va. - In a battle between the CAA's two 10-2 teams, host James Madison rallied in the second half to claim a 68-60 win over Georgia State Thursday night.
Brittany Graham's 16 points (4-for-4 outside the arc) and Danyiell McKeller's 16 points led the scoring for Georgia State (10-3, 1-1), who sustained their first road loss after four wins this season. The nation's #1 scorer, Dawn Evans, scored two points below her average (26 tonight) and shot just 5-of-28 against the Panthers, making 13-of-14 free throws. James Madison (11-2, 1-1), who just fell out of the Top 25 this week after a one-point road loss, also got 14 points from 6-foot-4 Lauren Jiminez and 14 from guard Tarik Hislop. Shay Rawls and Brittany Graham co-led State with 8 rebounds, while Crystal Johnson had 8 assists.
The see-saw game saw 12 lead changes and 10 ties. Georgia State's defense held JMU to 22.9% in the first half (8-of-35) in taking a 28-27 lead into the locker room at halftime. JMU shot just 30% for the game, but went to the free throw line 28 times (23 made) compared to just 4-of-12 by Georgia State. JMU's other advantage came in rebounding with a 55-41 margin, including 24 offensive boards.
"We certainly played hard tonight and this was a physical batttle," Coach Lea Henry said postgame. "James Madison is a very good team and played well with their size advantage, but after we see the tape, we might see it was more our fault that we didn't come away with the win tonight. A lot of things just didn't go our way tonight and a big difference was at the free throw line. We missed too many open shots, especially in the first half when we could have built a bigger lead. Even though it is a loss, I think we can build off this type of effort, keep improving and move on to more wins."
After seven ties early in the game, Georgia State made its first strong move of the game. Down 18-17, Georgia State pulled away to a 26-20 lead at 3:33 of the first half after a trey by Graham, followed by a steal and lay-up from Graham. The Panthers shut down the high-scoring Evans without a point until she made a free throw with just 5:51 left in the first half. But Evans made her first three-point basket of the game with 50 seconds left in the first half to pull JMU back to within just 28-27 at the break. JMU was 12-for-12 from the charity stripe in the first half, while the visiting Panthers were just 0-for-1 in free throws.
in the second half, the see-saw battle continued with visiting State holding three-point leads three times early, but host JMU answering each time. The game was tied for the final time at 46 with 10 minutes to play, then JMU had a 52-49 lead with 8:33 on the clock when the Dukes made their biggest run. Evans made a lay-up, followed by a trey and then two free throws at 6:53 for her seven points in a minute and 22 second-span for the largest lead of the game at 59-49.
But, visiting State was not done and closed back to 60-56 with just 3:54 left in the game. But, State lost its point guard Crystal Johnson when she was hit in the eye on a foul by Evans at 4:39 and didn't return.
It was still 64-60 with just 34.5 seconds remaining in the game. But, JMU made 4-of-4 free throws in the closing seconds to secure their victory.
NOTEBOOK: The Panthers three losses have come to teams all ranked in the Top 25 this season and all were contested deep into the second half before GSU fell. Florida State, No. 13, is 14-2, Georgia Tech, No. 20, is 13-3, and JMU, No. 29, is now 11-2 for a combined trio of 38-7, while Georgia State has beaten every other team on its schedule...Brittany Graham was 4-for-4 outside the arc, which is her fifth game with four or more treys at GSU. She was 5-of-6 for 17 points in last year's win at Clemson... Graham ups her season total to 27 treys made...Crystal Johnson had 8 assists tonight before exiting with her injury, as this game follows her 11 Sunday vs. UNCW to give her 19 in the two CAA games..James Madison's size tonight saw them score 26 second-chance points off their own misses.
