March 9, 2006
2006 Aéropostale
CAA Women's Basketball Championship
Quarterfinals - Game 5
FAIRFAX, Va. - The No. 2-seeded James Madison Dukes survived an overtime scare Thursday afternoon at the CAA Women's Basketball Championship with a 53-51 defeat of the No. 7-seeded Drexel Dragons.
James Madison was led by Shirley McCall's 18 points, including a key jumper in overtime that helped the Dukes improve to 23-5 and advance to the semifinals where they will meet the winner of Northeastern-Delaware. Meredith Alexis tallied her 15th double-double of the season with 16 points and 11 rebounds, while Tamera Young pulled down 15 boards of her own. The Dukes only dressed eight players and were without All-CAA third team selection Lesley Dickinson.
Narissa Suber paced the Dragons with 18 points, who fall to 15-14. Catherine Scanlon added 16 points and seven rebounds, while Jackie Falson chipped in 11 points and nine rebounds.
It was a first half of extremes for the two teams, as Drexel missed nine of its first 10 shots and James Madison jumped out to a 14-2 lead. McCall led the opening charge for the Dukes with six points during the run.
Suber eventually ended the Dragons' drought with a three-point play at the 11:10 mark. She and Scanlon combined for 15 points in the next seven minutes to turn the tables on the Dukes as Drexel finished the half on a 17-3 run of their own to make it a 19-17 score at the break.
All in all, the teams combined to shoot just 26 percent from the field in the half, including a 2-of-18 performance from three-point land.
The opponents played an even game for the majority of the second half, and things got interesting around the 2:30 mark when layups by Falson and Scanlon gave Drexel a 40-39 lead.
With the ball in Drexel's possession with just over a minute to go, the JMU defense had the shot clock down to three seconds in hopes of getting the ball back, but McCall committed a foul with 44 seconds remaining to give the Dragons a reset. However, Scanlon was immediately called for a moving screen to give the ball back to the Dukes.
On the last possession of regulation, Andrea Benvenuto missed a jumper that Young gathered in only to miss a shot of her own. The ball was knocked out of bounds to the Dukes.
Following the inbounds pass, McCall drove to the hoop and was fouled with 2.2 seconds left and a chance to win the game. She hit the first but missed the second and the clock expired to send the game into overtime tied at 40.
In the extra session, JMU kicked things off with an Alexis layup and a McCall free throw, but Falson responded with a driving hook shot to keep the score within one. Young soon after made a steal for a fast break layup, but Suber answered immediately with a three-pointer to tie the game at 45.
Drexel held a brief advantage after a Hester foul shot, but Alexis hit two of her own and McCall drilled a jumper in the lane to extend the lead to three once again.
A Falson layup was mixed in with four JMU free throws in the final minute to make it 53-48. Suber banked in a half-court heave at the buzzer to set the final score of 53-51.
