East Carolina University
James Madison
ECU Falls 82-66 at James Madison in Season Opener
November 12, 2006 | Women's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2006
James Madison 82, East Carolina 66 (PDF)
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HARRISONBURG, Va..-- Meredith Alexis scored 30 points, one shy of her career-high, as James Madison defeated East Carolina 82-66 in the season opener for both schools at the JMU Convocation Center Sunday afternoon.
The Dukes opened up an early 7-2 lead on five straight points by Alexis. Cherie Mills (Ayden, N.C.) pulled the Lady Pirates within two at 8-6, with 16:01 on the clock, on her third basket of the night. Mills tallied the first eight points of the game for ECU and finished the first half with as many points. ECU continued to chip away at the JMU lead, tying the game at 25-25 with 6:48 to play in the first half on back to back jumpers by Alicia Person. The Dukes answered, scoring five unanswered points, giving them the 32-25 edge with 2:47 remaining in the half. A pair of free throws and a three pointer by Jessica Slack cut the lead to three with a minute and a half to play in the opening stanza, but a Kisha Stokes layup with under a minute to play gave JMU the 35-30 lead heading into the locker room.
Alexis led all scorers with 10 points in the first half while Mills was the Lady Pirates top scorer, with eight. Jasmine Young dished out five assists in the opening stanza, scoring three points.
James Madison shot 38.7 percent from the floor in the first half, while East Carolina was 32.5 percent. The Dukes out-rebounded the Lady Pirates 30-17 but committed 10 turnovers to ECU's six.
ECU opened up the second half by scoring four straight points, pulling them to within one, 35-34, with 18:51 to play in the game. Alexis' jumper put the Dukes back on top, 37-34 with with 18:17 on the clock. A Young trey at the 17:32 mark tied the game for the third time at 37-37. A slack three-point play gave the Lady Pirates their only lead of the game, at 40-39 with 16:39 remaining in the game. JMU answered with a nine point run, including six unanswered points by Alexis. After the Dukes went up by as many as 12, the Lady Pirates battled back, cutting JMU's lead to eight, 69-61 with 2:44 to play on another Young trey, but could not get any closer, as the Dukes used 10 late free throws to seal the victory.
Alexis led all scorers with 30 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 12-16 from the field. Andrea Benvenuto added 14, including eight free throws in the closing minutes of the game. JJMU's Jennifer Brown also scored in double figures, with 12 points.
Young led the Lady Pirates with 16 points and eight assists, going 3-5 from behind the arc. Mills added 11 points while LaCoya Terry chipped in 10. Nicole Days led ECU on the boards, pulling down six rebounds.
The Lady Pirates return to action on Friday, November 17 as the team travels to Burlington, Vermont to participate in the TD Banknorth Tournament on the campus of the University of Vermont. ECU will face Harvard in the opening round Friday night at 6:00 p.m. EST. The Lady Pirates will then play either Holy Cross or host Vermont Saturday.
