W&M vs. the Lady Dukes

After the Lady Dukes got out to a slow start, they picked it up and kept JMU fans from getting nervous the rest of the game. I have to give props to three of the ladies last night. First up is junior Sarah Williams. After weeks of taking good shots that weren't falling, she finally figured out where her mechanics were messing her up. Sarah hit 3 3-pointers on her way to a season-high (and JMU career high - first year playing after transferring from UR) 18 points and grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds (12 defensive), while also adding 2 assists, 2 steals, and a blocked shot to her stats. It was an all-around great effort by Sarah for the entire 39 minutes that she played. Next up is freshman Kiara Francisco, who went 5-9 for FG's and 4-8 for FT's for a total of 14 points for the night...her total for year coming in was 13 points. She got the opportunity for 16 minutes of playing thanks to foul trouble from Lauren and Nina, but more on that later. To come in and play like that was great. Last, but certainly not least, was yet another outstanding performance by our actress turned #1 scorer in the nation Dawn Evans. She didn't quite hit her average, but she still had a game-high 21 points, dished out 6 assists, and got an awesome block that was probably one of the best parts of the night. Good supporting games were turned in by Courtney Hamner (3 pts, 3 rebs, 5 assists), Lauren Jimenez (9 points, 7 rebs, 2 assists, 1 blk) and Nina Uqdah (4 points, 7 rebs, 1 assist). It was a sloppier game with 18 turnovers, but other than that it was a good game by the Lady Dukes.

Now for the fun stories of the game. First up is probably the most incredibly bad free throw shooting performance I've ever seen (including from myself, and I don't play basketball). #15, Tiffany Benson, of the Tribe in the final 8 minutes of the game missed 12 straight free throws! The first few were kinda funny, just because anytime an opposing player misses a free throw, the students cheer. But once it got to 5 missed in a row, chants were started before each one. From the DNR article:

The JMU band and student section took so much pleasure in mercilessly taunting Benson that they cheered wildly ever time Benson - a 29.5 percent free-throw shooter going into the game - was fouled by the Dukes.

For the 12th free throw, all the JMU students sat down and quieted the crowd to throw Benson off again...and she missed her 12th straight. After another foul on W&M, Lauren Jiminez ended up standing closest to the students under the basket and we pleaded with her to foul Benson again, but she said she couldn't because she already had four fouls (a couple of which were bogus calls). Chalk 12 missed free throws in a row up in the column of things I thought I would never see happen by a Division I basketball player. Another great play from Lauren was when JMU was taking the ball up the floor, Taysha Pye wasn't watching behind her and when she turned to follow Dawn Evans, Lauren was waiting there to land a huge screen that knocked Taysha on backwards to the floor. It definitely got into Taysha's head because for the next few minutes she was constantly watching behind her nervously to see where Lauren was. It was probably the best middle-of-the-court screen I've ever seen. The final story of the game was the freshman Tribe player Aleia Gland, or I guess more the attention she brought. JMU junior Nathan Herchenrother (who picks an opposing player every game, even Men's games, to sing to) tried the whole game to get her to look at him or say something, but even after songs and multiple comments, the only smile he got from her was when he yelled at the W&M coach, "Debbie! Put Aleia in! She's beautiful!" All around a funny second half.

DNR: Dukes Relax, Beat Tribe | Box Score