No change at the top of the CAA standings, as JMU remains a game in front of UNC Wilmington and Old Dominion. But there's suddenly some drama for that all-important fourth spot, as VCU's loss and Delaware's victory over Towson means there's only one game separating the two. The top four teams earn first-round byes in the conference tournament; everyone else must win four games instead of three to take the conference crown, something that's never happened in the history of the CAA tournament.
CAA standings
James Madison 18-6 11-1
UNC Wilmington 18-5 10-2
Old Dominion 16-7 10-2
VCU 13-9 8-4
Delaware 14-9 7-5
Hofstra 14-9 6-6
Drexel 13-10 5-7
George Mason 11-12 5-7
Georgia State 9-14 4-8
Northeastern 8-15 3-9
Towson 8-15 2-10
William and Mary 2-20 1-11
James Madison 71, VCU 51: Whoa. Dawn Evans scored 30 points, but the Dukes got contributions across the board in a dominating performance on the road against a Rams team that really wanted this one. JMU separated itself with a near-flawless showing on both ends over the final 12-plus minutes of the first half, a span that included an 18-1 Dukes run, a rash of Rams turnovers and back-to-back Evans' 3-points to send JMU into intermission with an 18-point lead. VCU would get no closer than 9 points in the second half as the Dukes cruised to their 9th straight victory - and easily their most impressive. We've been someone underwhelmed by JMU at times this season. Not that they haven't played good basketball. We just believe they're capable of extremely good basketball, and they hadn't quite found that level yet. Well, they found it Thursday, and if Dukes can reproduce this effort throughout the next few weeks, look out CAA - and NCAA. "If we play like we did in the first half, we'll be very hard to beat," Dukes coach Kenny Brooks said.
Andrea Barbour had 21 points and Courtney Hurt added 20 - that's right, those two combined for 41 of VCU's 51 - for the Rams, who must shake this one off quickly lest they find themselves resigned to the first-round bracket of next month's CAA Tournament.
Old Dominion 69, Northeastern 43: Jackie Cook scored a career-high 16 points and drained 4 of the the Lady Monarchs' Constant Center-record 11 3-pointers in a game that really wasn't even as close as that lopsided score. ODU enjoyed eye-popping statistical advantages across the board, but the most memorable stat came from Tia Lewis, who became the 27th Lady Monarch to reach 1,000 career points.
UNC Wilmington 72, William and Mary 48: Tribe freshman Kaitlyn Mathieu scored 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting. Other than that, the Tribe's nightmarish season continued.
Georgia State 71, George Mason 61: Give credit to the Panthers, who apparently had something click during the second half of their loss to JMU and have been a potent and dangerous team ever since. On Thursday they jumped on the Patriots, seizing an 11-point lead at half and going up by as many as 15 after intermission before holding off one of Mason's patented comeback bids. Brittany Poindexter scored 16 points, Amber Easter added 14 and Taleia Moton 13 for the Patriots, who made it a one-possession game late in the second half before falling for the first time in their last three road games.
Other CAA scores
Delaware 64, Towson 52
Hofstra 66, Drexel 59
Virginia Tech 62, Longwood 54: Since this is Tech's first win since Dec. 30, we don't want to be too critical. But in the interest of full disclosure, we should point out that Tech (10-14) prevailed despite a season-high 27 turnovers and 23-of-44 shooting from the free throw line. “I am very pleased to get this win,” Hokies coach Beth Dunkenberger said. “It’s long overdue, it’s nice to get a W back in the column, no doubt. But this was an ugly game.” Thanks, Coach. We didn't want to be the ones to say it. Emma Zieverink scored 12 points and Crystal Smith added 11 to lead Longwood (6-17).
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