James Madison University came out of Bender Arena with a win on Nov. 20. A banked three with five seconds left proved to be the difference, with JMU winning by a score of 69-65 despite four Eagles scoring in double digits.
“If you took one stat, [rebounding] would be the difference as to why we lost,” explained head coach Megan Gebbia after the game.
Coming into the matchup, JMU (3-0, 0-0) was averaging 84.5 points per game, lead by Precious Hall’s impressive 22 ppg. After winning their first two matchups of the year including a win against No. 23 UCLA, the Dukes were riding high—as high as No. 23 on the ESPN/USA Today NCAAW rankings.
The first half was characterized by a substantial amount of fouls on both sides of the court. The Eagles took the advantage in this aspect, converting six of seven free throw attempts to JMU’s three of nine. Hall was limited to seven points in the half.
Each team had flurries of points during the latter stages of the first 20 minutes of play, even though the scoring started off slow for both teams. Earning 15 first-half offensive rebounds the Dukes got out to a substantial lead. However, after the Eagles (0-2, 0-0 PL) defensively cleaned things up and converted on multiple three-point attempts from both, senior forward Arron Zimmerman and sophomore guard Jordan Light, AU was in the lead with less than two minutes to play.
JMU maintained a slim lead towards the beginning of the second half but yet another three pointer from Light put the Eagles up 52-50 with under 11 minutes to play in the game. Light tripled her previous highest points per game with a team-leading 15 and had an all-around solid game, shooting 100 percent from the field, providing four assists and making one block in her 38 minutes on the court.
“I’m more confident shooting the ball and in all aspects of the game,” said Light on her form heading into her second season at AU. Light is not the only one looking forward to her sophomore year; coach Megan Gebbia had high praise for the guard’s notable performance.
“She works on every aspect of her game, she believes in herself and she buys into the style and system of play. I expect more games like that from [Light] this year,” Gebbia said.
Neither team was able to really take hold of the game, and the score remained extremely close for the full 20 minutes of the second half. Offensive rebounding by the Dukes continued to plague AU as JMU finished the game with a lofty 24 offensive rebounds that lead to 14-second chance points.
After two successful free throws from senior guard Jen Dumiak, the Eagles had four players in double digits. Minutes later, JMU center Lauren Okafor fouled out of the one-point game and it looked as if AU might be able to close the gap and come out on top. However, the one-point lead turned into two thanks to a Duke free throw, and a two-point lead became five after a clutch banked three pointer from JMU guard Angela Mickens with under ten seconds left to put the game out of reach.
There were several positives from the game for the Eagles to build on. AU shot extremely well over the course of the game; they had a field-goal percentage of over 50 percent, with 46 percent from behind the three-point arc and converted on 81 percent of its free throws. Going into Sunday’s home matchup against Princeton, Dumiak thinks her team is ready to get their first win of the season.
“Controlling the tempo and just playing hard for 40 minutes and not letting up,” said Dumiak on what her team can take out of the tough loss moving forward into the bulk of the upcoming season.
The Eagles end their homestand on Nov. 23 as they take on Princeton University.
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