JMU dominates Georgia St., George Mason crushes Towson and Drexel slows VCU

Thursday's games:

JMU 76, Georgia Stae 45: Kirby Burkholder made 6 of 8 3-pointers and scored a career-high 22 points and Tarik Hislop chipped in 16 in a dominating Dukes effort at both ends in Harrisonburg. JMU (15-4, 6-2 CAA) maintained at least a 20-point lead from the 1:15 mark of the first half and stayed ahead by at least 30 over the final 14:30. The Dukes moved into a second-place tie with Hofstra and Drexel in the CAA race, and will take their shot at league-leading Delaware (17-1, 8-0) Sunday in Harrisonburg. The Panthers (7-13, 0-8) remain the CAA's only winless team.

George Mason 78, Towson 54: The Patriots led by only 30-27 at halftime, but blistered the nets at a 54.8 percent clip after the break to steamroll the Tigers and collect their third straight win. Amber Easter continued her strong play of late with 21 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Taleia Moton added 20 points for the Patriots, who also dished out 23 assists on 31 field goals. Not sure what Jeri Porter is saying to these guys in the halftime locker room, but this is the third straight game in which the Patriots (10-9, 4-4 CAA) have shot lights out after the break. They scored 47 points on 51.4 percent shooting last Thursday in a victory over William and Mary, and got 36 points on 59-percent shooting Sunday in a win over VCU. All three of these games were at the Patriot Center, so the trick now is for Mason to reproduce this level of play on the road. Their first shot at doing this comes Sunday at Old Dominion. The Patriots prevailed 85-69 when these teams met on Dec. 4 in Fairfax.

Drexel 47, VCU 41: Courtney Hurt became VCU's all-time leading scorer on an otherwise disappointing night in Richmond for the Rams, who have now dropped three straight. Hurt finished with 9 points (and 15 rebounds) and now has 1,755 in her career, eclipsing the 22-year-old school record set by Kelly Hoover. Andrea Barbour led all Rams with 14 points, but VCU (11-8, 4-4 CAA) hurt itself with 19 turnovers, way too many in the type of low-possession game the Dragons force opponents to play. Surging Drexel (10-8, 6-2) prevailed for the fifth time in six games.

Also Thursday: Elena Delle Donne had 41 points, 15 rebounds and 5 assists as No. 15 Delaware roared past Hofstra 84-66. It was the Blue Hens' seventh straight victory.