Props To The Lady Dukes

Even in a a loss, you can sometimes pull out the things they did well, and you can certainly pull out the things they didn't do well and this game had both. The first half featured two defensive teams battling it out and even though both teams were able to get shots off, few fell home. This was especially true for the JMU Dukes where they only scored 10 points from the field in the first half, with another 8 points coming from the free throw line. Duquesne by the end of the half took a 34-18 lead. The Duquesne defense is stout, probably the best I have seen to date and it showed. Their defense forced turnovers, blocked shots, got plenty of steals, rebounded well, and gave JMU fits throughout the game. But JMU battled back and in the second half put together a come from behind rally that would show how good JMU can be.

The second half was a different team, they still struggled at times to make their shots, but the energy they showed was great. They showed heart and they played to win. That is all you can ask for at times when the team is young (as far as playing together). With that said, the team needs to rebound the ball better, maybe the stats will say they didn't do badly in that stat, but it seemed like Duquesne was rebounding the ball for second chance shots all day long. Another problem is that we need to limit the turnovers and maybe that is credited to Duquesne's defense.

Gill had a really good game today, she scored 16 points, 6 rebounds and only had 1 turnover. She also played good minutes, clocking in a total of 29 minutes. Burkholder also had a descent game scoring 15 points and 8 rebounds. The bad news is that Newman went out with an injury early in the first half and never returned. Later in the game it was revealed that that she had ice on her right ankle. Hope it isn't anything major, but she would be a big loss defensively for the team. With that stated, my mad props goes to the overall team for never quitting, for playing 40 minutes, and pulling the team within 3 points for an opportunity to win or tie the game at the end of regulation. While it may not have been the best game, you played hard and for that, mad props!

Final 62-57 Duquesne. 

Gametracker notes http://www.cstv.com/gametracker/launch/gt_wbaskbl.html?event=1199253&school=cs&from=gtLite

UPDATE: A good presser by Coach Brooks. Talks about the various players, Newman's unknown injury that doesn't look good, and a few other things. http://www.jmusports.com//mediaPortal/player.dbml?POPOUT=1&db_oem_id=14400&id=1145505&catid=21611&start=4.541