Jan. 15, 2004

Box Score

HARRISONBURG, Va. - James Madison (2-2, 6-8) led for almost the entire game en route to a 64-53 win over George Mason (3-1, 8-3) in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Thursday night at the JMU Convocation Center.

Three Dukes scored in double figures led by freshman forward Lesley Dickinson (Queens Village, N.Y./Christ the King) with 13 and sophomore center Denae Dobbins (Glenville, W.Va./Gilmer County) with a career-high 12. Red-shirt junior guard Mary Beth Culbertson (Havertown, Pa./Archbishop Carroll) added 10. Freshman forward Meredith Alexis (Ashley, Pa./Bishop Hoban) led all players with 14 rebounds, and Dobbins grabbed a season-high eight boards.

George Mason senior guard Jen Derevjanik (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's), the league's second-leading scorer, had a game-high 24 points, and senior center Osato Edobor-Osula (Queens, N.Y./Jamaica) had 11 for the Patriots.

JMU broke a 4-4 tie by scoring the game's next six points and never trailed in the contest. The Dukes led by as many as 11 (33-22 at 2:31) and were up 37-29 at halftime.

The Dukes led by nine (43-34 at 15:53) in the second half before George Mason scored six straight points to close the gap to 43-40 with 12:01 left. JMU, however, scored the game's next six points to push its lead back to nine (49-40 at 9:34).

Derevjanik hit a three-pointer then a layup to get the Patriots back to within four (49-45 at 7:50). Then a 9-3 JMU run gave the Dukes a 58-48 lead with 3:36 to play, and George Mason got no closer than seven the rest of the way.

The loss ended a five-game winning streak for George Mason, which played without two starters, Vernessa Neamo (14.4 ppg, 8.3 rpg) and Susan Otim (7.8 ppg). They were among several players who did not dress for the game due to an unspecified violation of team rules.