Game 12: Women at James Madison

The #16/15 women's team travels to Harrisonburg, VA to face James Madison (4-0) tonight. The Colonials (5-1) won the GW Thanksgiving Classic at the Smith Center over the weekend, beating South Dakota State and Western Kentucky. Despite playing without starters Whitney Allen and Antelia Parrish on Saturday, GW beat the Lady Toppers 80-63 behind 18 points and 12 assists from Kimberly Beck and 23 points and eight rebounds from Jessica Adair.

The Dukes, who were picked to finish second (behind 16-time defending conference champion Old Dominion) out of 12 teams in the Colonial Athletic Association, return only one starter from the squad that went 27-6 and lost to Pittsburgh in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. However, that one starter is 6-2 senior guard/forward Tamera Young (20 points, nine rebounds per game this season), the preseason pick as the Player of the Year in the CAA. 5-7 freshman guard Dawn Evans (12.8 points), 6-0 junior guard/forward Kisha Stokes, Jr. (12 points, 10.5 rebounds), and 6-2 senior forward Jennifer Brown (9.8 points, 6.3 rebounds) account for the majority of the Dukes' scoring. Coach Kenny Brooks is 102-52 in his sixth season at James Madison.

James Madison hasn't played in nine days since beating Wake Forest 64-53 at home on November 18. In that one, Brown led the way with 16 points and five rebounds, while Young added 14 points, surpassing the 1,500 plateau for her career. The Dukes have also beaten Harvard, Bucknell, and Maryland-Baltimore County this season (the Colonials beat UMBC on the road by 20 points on November 9, while James Madison beat the Retrievers by 13 in Baltimore on November 16).

The Dukes have the longest home winning streak in the nation at 28 games; their last loss in Harrisonburg was a 59-52 decision to Delaware on March 3, 2005. Over the last 23 seasons, James Madison is 249-55 (.819) at the JMU Convocation Center.

This is the 10th-ever meeting between these programs; GW is 3-6. The last meeting came at the Smith Center on November 25 of last year, which the Colonials won 68-56. Jessica Adair had 16 points and 14 rebounds to lead the way for the Colonials, who trailed by as many as 16 in the first half and 11 at intermission before outscoring the Dukes by 21 points in the second half. James Madison won the last meeting in Harrisonburg 78-57 on December 9, 1990. GW is 0-3 all-time on the road in this series, while coach Joe McKeown is 1-0 against Brooks and the Dukes.

This is going to be a tough road contest for McKeown and company, especially if Allen and Parrish can't play. However, I think this squad rediscovered itself in the win over Western Kentucky on Saturday. Expect GW to ride the momentum from this past weekend and snap the Dukes' streak.

Ben Sugarman and Ben Toder have the call for WRGW with Chase Carpenter and Max Smith handling production duties. You can listen here starting at 6.40 p.m.

Game notes: Allen and Parrish are questionable for tonight's game...Parrish sprained her left ankle in the second half of Friday's game against South Dakota State and missed the next day's Western Kentucky contest...Allen has missed the last two games because of a broken left ring finger that she suffered in preseason practice and re-injured in the loss to Rutgers...GW is 34-19 all-time against CAA teams...Beck is 27 assists shy of taking over the top spot in program history......McKeown is 13 wins shy of 500 for his career...The Wake Forest team James Madison beat in its last game went on to beat #11/10 Texas A&M in the Paradise Jam at the U.S. Virgin Islands...Young scored 30 points in the Dukes' season opener against Harvard.

Starting lineups and other notes to follow from the WRGW studios and the JMU Convocation Center once we get closer to tip-off. Please check back later.

Update, 7.01 p.m. - Here are the starting lineups:

GW
G - Stefani Munro (5-7 sophomore from Mount Clemens, MI)
G - Kimberly Beck (5-8 senior from Fairburn, GA)
G - Sarah-Jo Lawrence (5-11 senior from Rhoadesville, VA)
F - Jazmine Adair (6-3 junior from Washington, DC)
C - Jessica Adair (6-4 junior from Washington, DC)

James Madison
G - Dawn Evans (5-7 freshman from Clarksville, TN)
G - Jasmin Lawrence (5-10 senior from Queens, NY)
G - Tamera Young (6-2 senior from Wilmington, NC)
F - Kisha Stokes (6-0 junior from New York, NY)
F - Jennifer Brown (6-2 senior from Brooklyn, NY)

Word is neither Allen nor Parrish is expected to play.

Update, 8.01 p.m. - GW trails 37-26 at the half. An ugly first half by the Colonials, as they got beaten up on the boards and gave up too many second-chance points. McKeown is clearly missing Allen and Parrish. GW trailed by 11 at halftime against the Dukes at the Smith Center last season before eventually winning 68-56. Can they do it again?

Update, 8.33 p.m. - Down 14 with just under eight minutes to play, things aren't looking good for the Colonials. While it's tough to win without two starters, it seems as though GW should have been able to put up more of a fight against James Madison with Beck, Lawrence, the Adairs, and company. Two losses won't ruin the season, but they could certainly hurt the Colonials' seeding come March.

Update, 8.59 p.m. - GW loses 80-55. McKeown's squad got beaten badly in every aspect of the game, especially on the boards: GW had 26 rebounds, while the Dukes had 24 offensive boards. It's the first win for James Madison against a ranked team in more than 16 years. At this rate, the Colonials will be lucky to be in the polls next week.

Postgame audio will be up here at some point, most likely tomorrow afternoon. We'll be back in roughly 24 hours for the men's game at UCLA. Thanks for stopping by.