The Next Three Games Are Important For The Resume

The JMU Nation knows that the next three games are extremely important to win, just as it is important for the teams JMU is playing to win to help build their resume for the post season. I thought that after this past weekend's highs and lows that this would be a great segue into my 3 game review. I hope you enjoy it, it comes from Rocky Balboa, when he is talking to his son about winning and losing.

Love this quote from Rocky - "Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain't all sunshine and rainbows. It's a very mean and nasty place and I don't care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard ya hit. It's about how hard you can get it and keep moving forward. How much you can take and keep moving forward. That's how winning is done! Now if you know what you're worth then go out and get what you're worth. But ya gotta be willing to take the hits, and not pointing fingers saying you ain't where you wanna be because of him, or her, or anybody! Cowards do that and that ain't you! You're better than that"

So when you are feeling down and out, not feeling like getting back up, remember the quote above.

Here is my review of the next 3 games. Tough match ups, but all winnable.

Richmond - We all hate them, they are like that nasty spider you step on when it comes close, they are okay from afar, but when they come into your domain, you just want to squash them and show them who is the real boss. That doesn't mean they don't have a good team, We all wish that Richmond would somehow fall in a hole, never to be heard from again. Obviously, that isn't going to happen. On December 2nd, the Spiders will visit the Convo in hopes of poisoning our post season hopes, but hopefully the Dukes are ready to squash their dreams leaving the Janitor to clean up the mess.

In the last 4 meetings, JMU and Richmond have been tied, each having two wins. Richmond however has won the last two meetings. Making this contest extremely important. The one thing I gathered while watching Richmond in Cancun is that they love to run the ball at you, they love to press, so expect a fast paced game from them. They seem to like the screens as well, so discipline is key. On paper, Richmond is shown to have a better better defense by allowing only 62 points a game. However, their offense is what is getting them in trouble-averaging just 58 points a game. With Genevieve Okoro's (6'0" F) season ending ACL injury, the Spiders will have to rely mainly on Liz Brown (6'4" F/C) who has been averaging about 8 points a game and 5 rebounds. If JMU wants to win this game, they need to box her and Becca Wann (5'10" G, avg 7 rbs a game) out and get the contested rebounds. Richmond also has two main scorers in Rachael Bilney (5'10") who has scored 15 points or more in several games and is a 3-point threat. The other main scorer is Kristina King (5'10") who is probably the bigger scorer than any of the Richmond players, she is probably more like Tarik Hislop, she can shoot the 3, but will make most of her shots inside the circle. Of note: Richmond beat Minnesota by 12 points, but lost to Green Bay by 31 points (without G. Okoro). While JMU beat Green Bay by 3 points, but lost to Minnesota by 18 points. Also, Okoro had a big game against Minnesota and recorded 17 rebounds and 12 points, while Ross was only able to retrieve 6 rebounds and 4 points. As stated earlier, rebounds and controlling the ball are key if JMU wants to win. Contest is December 2, at 2 PM. Richmond's RPI stands at #139 or #95 depending which you support.


Liberty - They may come out of the Big South Conference, but they usually field good teams. Each year it seems like they receive votes in the top 25 and while that is not the case this year, they are ranked in the College Insider Mid-Major Top 25 poll at 23. JMU has owned Liberty the last 6 meetings, recording wins in all 6. However, each contest has been closely contested, usually winning no more than 10 points, with the last two meetings being decided by less than 5 points. You can be sure that Liberty is going to come at JMU with everything they have, it is a victory that many in Liberty nation would love to relish. Defensively, Liberty has only allowed 62 points per game, including about 40 rebounds per game. On offense they average about 67 points per game. This team defends the perimeter very well, so Kirby Burkholder may not get many shots from 3-point range. Devon Brown (5'10") is by far their best player and has averaged about 17 points a game with a game high at 20 points. She can also grab the rebounds, getting about 6 rebounds a game. Their best F/C has to be Jasmine Gardner a 6'2" who records about 7 rebounds a game and about 6 points a game. Other players include Tolu Omotola (according to Liberty's notes, Devon Brown and Tolu have been a huge duo this season), Brittany Cambell, and Emily Frazier, among a couple of others. This team is a very good offensive rebounding team, so the key will probably be like the Richmond game, box out Brown and Gardner and keep them from getting second chance points and defensive rebounds.   December 4, 7 PM at the Convocation Center. Liberty's RPI stands at #139 or #172. Liberty struggles on the road and have yet to win a game on the road.

Duquesne - The false Dukes. They are the posers, thinking they are Dukes, but we know who the real Dukes are and that is JMU. However, this will be the tougher test of the three schools. They come into this contest playing schools like UNC tough, losing by only 5 points. They beat Liberty by 17 points and Delaware (without Elena) by 4 points. They hold a 4-1 record and are also receiving votes in the latest polls. Defensively, they only allow 48 points a game, they force about 39 turnovers a game, but offensively they struggle, scoring about 59 points a game. Kirby is going to have a tough time shooting the 3-pointer in this game and will have to find other ways to contribute to her team. The good news is that JMU leads the last three meetings 2-1, but it will be tough getting this win at Duquesne. Their best scorer is 6'2" F Wumi Agunbiade. In the last three games she has scored at least 17 points and has record at least 12 rebounds per game, except one. Another good player is Jocelyn Floyd (5'8" G) who knows how to steal the ball. In the last two games, she has recorded at least 8 steals and scored 19 points, and 6 points respectively. Their best rebounder is probably Orsi Szecsi (6'3" G/F) who averages about 7 rebounds a game. Two other players you will probably see a lot of are April Robinson (5'8" G) and Belma Nurkic (5'8" G). The biggest thing with this team is protecting the ball and making your shots count. Ross and Giggets are going to have to be tough under the basket and push their weight around like the fierce warrior who refuses to give an inch. Hislop and Burkholder have to make their shots, because it is obvious that they like to play a high pressure defense. If we do not defend the paint in this game, we could be looking at a loss, so being tough, not forcing shots, and not getting frustrated are a must if JMU is going to win this game. Game is on December 16 at 2 PM at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh. Duquesne's RPI stands at #50, or #55 and will be by far our toughest opponent in this 3 game stretch.

Last thoughts - Hopefully we can win all three games. The good news is that we play Richmond and Liberty at home. The bad news is we play our toughest opponent in this series at their place. I feel like we are coming together as a team and hopefully our inside game continues to improve. If not, we will be in trouble. The other good news is that we will have plenty of rest before Richmond and Duquense, so hopefully that works to our advantage.

Notes: Toia Giggets has been cleared to play and will be back. Angela Mickens who suffered a 2nd concussion has yet to be cleared. Will update this post as new information comes in, especially with Liberty and Duquesne.

Today's DNR had an excellent article on Tarik Hislop today. If you have an account with the Daily News Record, I suggest you read it. http://www.dnronline.com/article/a_major_get

Tarik Hislop Named ESPNW National POW

Mad props goes out to Tarik Hislop today. In case you haven't guessed, ESPNW named her the national player of the week. She had a huge tournament this past weekend. Scoring a total of 74 points in 3 days, includnig 7 assist and 6 steals. It would be an understatement to say that she didn't have a breakout tournament. In game 1 vs Green Bay she scored 32 points, including 7 of the 10 points (the other 3 was by Kirby Burkholder who hit the go ahead 3-pointer) in overtime. In game 3 against Wichita State she also recorded 30 points. The only game that she didn't have a breakout performance during the tournament was against Minnesota (game 2), but that game came with only 20 hours of rest and probably less than that if you count game study and leisure time. So it is understandable that Tarik and the team would be feeling the effects of a hard fought game against Green Bay.

This is a much deserved accolade for Tarik Hislop. Watching her play this past weekend you could really feel that she took the moment and made it her own. She took control. Whatever Coach Brooks told her, she listened. I remember watching her in the Green Bay game and the shots she made were just amazing, Green Bay had no answer for her. It just isn't this past tournament, Tarik has been steady in every game she has played in this year, scoring on average 18 points per game. Going forward, Tarik will certainly garner much of the attention, but hopefully that will also open things up for Kirby Burkholder on the three point line, after all that is what great players do. Congrats Tarik for a job well done, maybe Tarik can get more national attention as the year progresses. How awesome would it be if other team members can get national attention as well.

http://espn.go.com/womens-college-basketball/story/_/id/8675601/james-madison-dukes-tarik-hislop-espnw-player-week

UPDATE: Tarik Hislop also earned CAA player of the week

A Successful Cancun Trip

A valiant effort by the Lady Dukes and a stellar performance by Tarik Hislop (30 points), Jasmine Gill (10 pts, 11 rb), and Jazmon Gwathmey (8 pts, 9 rb) would give the Dukes a victory over a defensive minded team nicknamed the Shockers 63-58. You have to be excited for this team, especially after they started 0-2 for the season. Here you have a team that was having trouble finding itself, especially inside, and yet, in two of the three games was able to have good games inside. Even Ross who started off slow, really showed why she deserves the starting position at the 5 spot. Today's game didn't feature a single 3-point shot being made (0-13), nor did it feature big points for Kirby Burkholder (0 pts, 8 rb), it was all about defense, rebounds, and Tarik Hislop's breakout performance for the 2nd time in the tournament.

You would be hard pressed to say that this team didn't grow from this experience, you would be hard pressed to say that they didn't find themselves in this tournament. The fact that they did it without Giggets and without Mickens (in today's game, Concussion) says something. It says, they are finally coming together as a team. That doesn't mean they don't have issues. I still think they have a hard time defending big post players, but who doesn't have those issues, especially smaller teams? We are tall, but we are not bulky and that is what Minnesota had in yesterday's loss.

We should learn from this trip and we should be well rested and healed for the first home game in nearly a month against Richmond. Richmond was also in the Cancun Challenge and played the exact same teams as we did. So far they are 2-0 in the tournament. They beat both Minnesota and Wichita State. Let's see if they can beat what I think, is one of the best teams in the tournament, Green Bay.

UPDATE: Richmond could not hang with Green Bay and lost 79-48. They did beat Minnesota and Wichita State. 

Notes: Both Gwathmey and Burkholder fouled out. JMU went 2-1 in the Cancun Challege and improved to a 0.500 record at 3-3. Box Score http://admin.xosn.com/fls/14400/stats/wbasketball/2013/jmu1124.htm?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=14400

Gophers Trapped Dukes In The Hole

What can you say? Just yesterday the Lady Dukes came off one of their best wins in the season and perhaps in program history. But today, with less than 24 hours to play. The Dukes would fall in the hole that the Gophers built for them. The Minnesota Gophers shot just over 30% from the field in yesterday's game, but today against the Dukes they shot over 50%. So when the Dukes went cold middle of the first half, it was inevitable the Dukes would go down double digits. Even with 4 seniors on the team, the Lady Dukes are young when you count playing time and today it showed. It reminded me of the UVA game where they came out hot, but would go cold the rest of the game. In the UVA game, JMU had no answer for Sarah Imovbioh, their inside forward, today, JMU had no answer for Micaella Riche, their inside forward or Rachel Banham and Kionna Kellogg , both of whom had a stellar game against the Dukes.

The one thing I have learned about the team this year is they have a hard time defending big players. UVA had a big in Imovbioh. Maybe I am wrong on my assessment, but when we cannot defend the paint well, we lose the game. Ross is a big part of this game plan and JMU needs her to have games like she did against Murray State and Green Bay. It certainly doesn't help when one of your best players is out with a concussion either (Toia Giggets).

While JMU played tired, and certainly looked fatigued from yesterday's game,  they still played hard and that is all you can ask for when things just doesn't seem to go their way. When a team has a stellar day, it is hard to beat that team. Let's hope that JMU has a better game tomorrow and climbs out of the trap that Minnesota set for them and shocks the Shockers tomorrow at 1 PM.

Final: 80-62 Minnesota

Notes: Newman fouls out with about 4 to play. Riche of Minnesota fouls out with about 3 to play. Mickens was hurt, not sure how bad, but Coach Brooks thinks she will be okay. Gwathmey is really starting to shine as a player. Box score http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wbaskbl.html?event=1157219&school=cs&from=gtLite

Big Win For The Lady Dukes As They Upset the #1 Mid-Major Team

When a team comes together and fights for a victory, you have to love them for their effort and tenacity. That is what the JMU women's basketball team did tonight when they beat a very good Wisconsin-Green Bay team in a back and forth showdown in OT 89-86. It was the first of three games in the Cancun Challenge that featured game highs for several JMU players. In my pregame thoughts I really thought that if Angela Mickens (8 assist, 5 points) were to play the point more, it would allow Tarik to focus on the 2 spot, and she wouldn't disappoint. Tarik scored a career high 32 points in this contest, including the game tying 3-pointer that sent the game into Overtime. Both Gwathmey (13 points) and Ross (13 points) scored double digits, including Kirby Burkholder who hit the go ahead 3 pointer (16 points) at the end of OT. With 24 seconds left, Green Bay's Stephanie Sension had the opportunity to put her team ahead, but would miss twice, allowing a rebound by Tarik Hislop. Hislop would be fouled with 0.7 seconds to play in OT and she hit both free throws sealing the game.

If you want to know how evenly matched these two teams were, all you have to do is look at the box score. In the first half both teams scored 37 points. In the second half, both teams scored 42 points. In overtime JMU scored 10 points (the final points of the game were Kirby's go ahead 3-pointer and Tarik Hislop's two foul shots) and Wisconsin-Green Bay Scored 7 points. http://scores.espn.go.com/ncw/scoreboard?date=20121122&confId=45

Here is another interesting observation. JMU was up by 3 points before the half, Green Bay had 14 seconds to score before the half and with 2 seconds to go Green Bay's Sarah Eichler hit a game tying 3-pointer going into the half. At the end of regulation with about 4 seconds to go, Tarik Hislop hits the game tying 3-pointer to send it to overtime. How strange is that?

Tomorrow the team will play another tough team in the Minnesota Gophers who lost to our December 2nd foe Richmond by 12 points. If JMU can have another performance like they did tonight, there is no doubt in my mind that they will win this game.

Side note: Box score http://admin.xosn.com/fls/14400/stats/wbasketball/2013/jmu1122.htm?DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=14400

Also Newman fouled out with under 1 minute to play in regulation and Gwathmey fouled out in Overtime with about 3 minutes to play. 

The Cancun Challenge

Raise your hand if you have ever been to Cancun? Yeah, I'm not raising my hand, but the JMU women's basketball program is raising their hand. In fact, this will mark the third time JMU has participated in this tournament, the most of any team to date. As participants, they hold a .500 record at 2-2 and JMU is looking to improve on that record with hopeful victories over Wisconsin-Green Bay of the Horizon, Minnesota of the Big Ten, and Wichita State of Missouri Valley conferences.

Wisconsin-Green Bay nicknamed the Pheonix is a team that has been receiving votes in the top 25, so a win over them would be a big victory for the JMU women. They come into this contest at 2-0 with victories over Northern Iowa and Central Michigan. Their best players are Sarah Eichler (5'11" F) who is getting about 14 points a game, 6 rebounds, Adrian Ritchie (5'11" G) who gets about 20 points a game, 7 rebounds, and Stephanie Sension (6'3" F) who has averaged about 13 points a game, including 5 rebounds. The other two players that receive significant minutes are Lydia Bauer (6'0" F) and Megan Lukan (5'7" F). Thus far they have held their opponents to just 50 points a game. Game is November 22 at 6 PM. You can check out their stats here https://admin.xosn.com/pdf8/992589.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=22500&

 Minnesota, nicknamed the Gophers, is going to be another tough match up for the Dukes. JMU leads the series 2-0. But this years Minnesota team looks like a descent team from the B10, but with a ton of Freshman and Sophomores. They have two players that are standouts and the rest are there to help. Rachel Banham (5'9"G) on average scores about 20 points a game and 3 rebounds, Micaella Ritchie (6'2" F) scores 18 points and 8 rebounds. Their other starters should consist of Sari Noga (5'10" G), Kionna Kellog (6'1" G/F), and Mikayla Baily (5'9" G, named B10 Freshman of the Week). Minnesota has held their teams to an average of 60 points a game. They have wins over Washington State, Villanova, Ohio, and Maine. Game is on November 23 at 3:30 PM. You can check out their stats here http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/minn/sports/w-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/stats/season_stats_20121118aaa.pdf

Wichita State, nicknamed the Shockers, will probably be the easier of the three opponents JMU faces, however, they did play LSU close. They do not score a lot of points, but they have kept their opponents on average to 53 points a game (LSU scored 72 points). They really do not have one player that stands out above the rest, but they do have a team that works together. Much like Minnesota, Wichita State relies on their bench heavily. So, the potential starters-Jessica Diamond (5'7" G) scores on average 12 points with 4 rebounds, Jasimen Gordon (6'2" C) 11 points with 5 rebounds, Alex Harden (5'11" G/F) 10 points with 6 rebounds, Michelle Price ( 6'1" F) with 8 points and 5 rebounds, and the other potential starter could be Jasmine Jones (5'9" G). Game is on November 24 at 1 PM. Stats https://admin.xosn.com/fls/7500/stats/wbasketball/2012-13/teamcume.htm?ATCLID=652945&SPSID=61199&SPID=2852&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=7500

I am no Kenny Brooks, but I would start Angela Mickens at the point and Tarik at the 2 spot. Tarik seems comfortable at the 2 and plays extremely well from that position. JMU also needs to find ways to get Kirby open, in the last game she was shut down because of the focus being strictly on her, however, when that happens, JMU needs to do what they did against Murray State, hammer the inside. Hopefully Chrystal Ross, Jasmine Gill, and Toia Giggets became embolden after the last game, especially Ross. If they can have good games inside, that should open the wing for Kirby to hit her 3 point shots.

JMU has a good breakdown of each team in their game notes http://www.jmusports.com/downloads2/518002.pdf?ATCLID=205750582&SPSID=71014&SPID=8110&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=14400 and on their sports page. They also have links to video stream if interested, but it looks like it could cost a little bit of money to watch the games.  http://www.jmusports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=205750582&DB_OEM_ID=14400

Why I Am Blogging About JMU WBB?

Hey everyone, I wanted to start a blog dedicated to JMU's women's basketball program because not enough attention is paid to them. I know the Daily News Record does a good job locally, but not many other news sources follow the women's basketball program. It is my goal to write about the various games that JMU will be playing. I am hopeful as I learn the game of women's basketball that this blog will become more insightful and fun to read.

So a little about me. My name is Chad. I am 34 years old and I live in Harrisonburg, about 2 miles from campus. I have always followed JMU sports but only became an avid supporter in 2008 when the JMU football program made their semifinal run. I also became interested in the WBB program about the same time.

The JMU women's basketball programs is an exciting program to watch. They play with heart, they play with a goal in mind and every game brings something to cheer about. For example, in the 2012 WNIT Quarterfinal, Kirby Burkholder comes in late after sitting for a while because of foul trouble and hits back to back 3's to put the Dukes ahead. Then in the final minute and twenty seconds she comes from nowhere and makes an amazing layup. Another example is the last game (Murray State) when Angela Mickens, the freshman point guard went to the basket for a layup and somehow ends up standing on her two hands. It was a great moment in the game that made you feel that after a 0-2 start that things are finally starting to turn for the better. JMU ended up beating Murray State 71-51 and improved to 1-2.



JMU women's basketball has a lot to offer. It has a great following, a great atmosphere, a great coach and staff, great players, and most of all a winning tradition. I hope that you will find this blog interesting and informative.