Hall Shines Yet Again With 23 Points

That is all I have to say, she was yet again amazing. Burkholder while sick continues to show why she is one of, if not the best overall player in the league. Even when she doesn't shoot well, she scraps for rebounds. She is just amazing. Major, Major kudos to Crystal Ross, here is a gal, who has been struggling as of late and when she came off the bench, she helped break the game open for JMU. She was able to be dominant inside. Gwathmey, yeah, still amazing. And Angela Mickens had yet another good game.

I am going to hate seeing Tarik Hislop and Kanita Shepherd go. Just think, it could have been Nikki Newman going as well. Hislop and Shepherd were big reasons for our success in the past, especially this year. Hislop helped lead us to a WNIT final, which was absolutely amazing. Shepherd played so hard this year and she has had some amazing blocks and rebounds this year. To see these two players play their last home game of the regular season at JMU is going to be special.

Makes you think about next years team and who will step up and be that third shooter? We have Hall, we have Burkholder, but will Gwathmey be that third shooter, or will one of the freshman coming in take that helm as the third shooter? Should be fun for sure.

BTW, JMU swept ODU tonight by a score of 77-61.

Have You Been Gwathmey'd?

If you haven't then maybe you should, because this gal knows how to play. She has a wonderful shot that is soft to the touch with a great looking release. She can rebound the ball extremely well and able to defend well. I was pleased at how well she defended EDD of Delaware. I didn't think anyone could guard her as well as Nikki Newman, but Jazmon Gwathmey did. Tonight though, Gwathmey scored 17 points and 9 rebounds, this was a career high for her and what is even better? She went 8-for-8 from the field. I have been high on Precious Hall and rightly so, but Gwathmey is right up there with her. She may not be a true freshman, but she is a red shirt freshman. Gwathmey may not get a rookie of the week honor, but she certainly deserves one.

JMU played Towson tonight and would cruise past them 79-45. The one thing I have learned about this team is that when they are clicking, they cannot be stopped. When they played Delaware, the top 3 scorers were not all hitting their shots, it was basically one, and the other two were mediocre. Perhaps, when they play Delaware this Sunday at 4:30 PM on Comcast they will be clicking on all cylinders and if they are, they will beat Delaware.

In the game today against Towson, there were 4 players who scored in the double digits, Precious Hall had 14 points, Kirby Burkholder (a double-double) had 14 points, Tarik Hislop had 17 points, and of course you know about Jazmon Gwathmey.

If you haven't noticed, I am very high on this freshman class. Tonight I saw a Angela Mickens play for 19 minutes and she looked good, best I have seen her play in a while. A Destiny Jones, who battled inside and got the needed rebounds, a Precious Hall who continues to be a presence on both sides of the ball, and Jazmon Gwathmey who had a career scoring night. I am liking what I am seeing and with Lauren Okafer becoming eligible next year....

Let's not forget the awesome play of Tarik Hislop who has a great shot, Burkholder who can burn you from the three, but also get the rebounds and hassle you inside. Kanita Shepherd who has been playing terrifically of late who had some great blocks inside. Toia Giggets, the ever strong shooter, and Crystal Ross who has some nice moves. All are great contributors all have done well this season. 4 more games until tournament time, let's win the next 4 and then win the CAA!

The Tenacious Dukes!

If ever there was a game where you needed everything, today was that game. It was a game where the Dukes went just 1-12 from the 3-point line. That lone 3-point shot was by Precious Hall in the 2nd half in a critical moment of the game. Precious Hall finished the game with 19 points, 5 rebounds and 7 turnovers. Burkholder finished the game with a double-double with 16 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assist. Hislop finished with 12 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assist. Toia Giggets was one point away from having a double-double with 9 points and 10 rebounds. The player that deserves a ton of credit is Destiny Jones-oh my goodness  the states won't show it, but defensively she was money. She finished with 6 points and 7 rebounds, 6 of those coming on the defensive end.

If you were listening to the game, I am sure you were frustrated and thinking to yourself, "uh oh." You were probably thinking that this was a bad time to have a bad game, and your thoughts would be justified. The team went down early 21-6, but would climb back in the first half and tie it 3 times before being down 5 points at the half-38-31. In the second half, the Dukes started off strong and would take a 14 point lead with about 10 minutes to go at 56-42. And just when you thought the game was in the bag, the Tribe would put on a run and get within 4. But the Dukes would respond defensively by getting a couple of steals and blocks-mainly from Burkholder. Ultimately, the Dukes would push the lead back to 8, but in the end, JMU would win 68-63.

The Dukes are now 8-1 in CAA play, 2nd place, and 14-7 overall. The next two games are at home. This coming Thursday they have a date with UNCW, should be another good game as they are now playing well. However, the big one, is Sunday vs Delaware.

Notes: Jasmine Gill has left the team for personal reasons.

Game notes: http://www.jmusports.com/newLiveStats/Basketball/index.dbml?GAME_STAT_ID=714155&db_oem_id=14400