Women’s Basketball Outlasts JMU For Fourth-Straight Win

Tuesday, January 18

Newark, Del.

6 P.M.

University of Delaware

10-4,4-0CAA

James Madison

6-9,2-2CAA

James Madison

Delaware

Photo by: Mark Campbell

Women’s Basketball Outlasts JMU For Fourth-Straight Win

1/18/2022 9:37:00 PM | Women's Basketball

Box Score Photo Gallery

NEWARK, Del. – Playing in their third game in five days, the University of Delaware women's basketball team remain undefeated in CAA play after claiming a wire-to-wire 64-57 win over James Madison (6-8, 2-2 CAA) Tuesday evening inside Bob Carpenter Center. The Blue Hens are now 10-4 on the season and 4-0 in conference play.

"The word today was to outwork them. That's what it was going to take, we said that we know this game, there's so much on it and they are a top team in this league," said head coach Natasha Adair. "We knew that it was going to be a game of runs, we knew that they [JMU] were going to crash the boards and we were trying to keep them out of the paint and have second chance opportunities. Despite all of what they did, I felt like down the stretch when we needed to get the stop, we did. Games like this are preparing us for something bigger and we know that in this league every night we are going to get everyone's best. I am just proud of our team how we stayed together – whether if the shot was going in, whether we played good defense and they hit a big shot, whether it was a foul we thought it might have been a foul or not – whatever it may be, we didnt let any of those variables change what we had to do to win. This is a gritty win but it feels so good in so many ways. I'm proud of our team."

It was the Jasmine Dickey show in the opening period as she needed six points to reach the 1,500 career points milestone. Needing two points after scoring the game's opening four points with back-to-back jumpers, Paris McBride found a running Dickey who set up camp behind the three-point line and drained her 1,501 career point to give Delaware the early 7-1 lead with 7:25 remaining. James Madison responded with an 11-5 run to make it a 12-all game with 2:02 left. To close out the quarter, Dickey then scored the Blue Hens' five-straight points, including a buzzer-beater triple for the 17-12 advantage.

What a shot by @_JD20 to surpass 1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career points!!

Let's GO #BlueHens pic.twitter.com/prL537V4zX
— Delaware Women's Basketball (@DelawareWBB) January 18, 2022

Delaware remained in control heading into the second as Lizzie Oleary's layup 16 seconds in ignited an 11-2 run to claim the game-high lead 14 points, 28-14. The Blue Hens maintained the double-digit advantage over the next 5:54 before the Dukes scored four-straight points to trim the deficit to single digits and send the 30-22 game into the break.

Tee Johnson and Dickey combined for Delaware's trio of freebies to help push the lead back up to 11, 39-28, with 4:28 remaining in the third. Steph Ouderkick then laid in two for James Madison to put together a crucial 11-4 spurt to make it a 43-39 game heading into the final period.

Using the momentum from a strong third period, the Dukes were able to tie the game up at 43 with 9:12 left. Tyi Skinner knocked down a jumper 14 seconds later to kick start a much needed 16-5 Blue Hen run to build the 11-point cushion, 59-48. With 1:29 showing on the fourth quarter clock and looking for a final surge, Madison Green connected from deep to start a 9-2 run to get in as close as four, 61-57, with 33 seconds remaining. The Blue Hens forced the Dukes to turnover the ball with 11 seconds left where all advantage fell in Delaware's lap. Ty Battle knocked down three free throws to settle the 64-57 final.

Dickey finished her milestone night with 26 points (3-of-6 3FG, 5-of-6 FT) and became the eighth person in program history to reach 1,500 career points. She is currently sitting in eighth in the record books with 1,520 career points. Dickey also added 14 rebounds, five blocks (game-high), four assists and two steals to post her sixth double-double on the season.

1️⃣5️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ career points for @_JD20!! She has 7️⃣ so far early in the first quarter!! pic.twitter.com/KnNKEJzPNM
— Delaware Women's Basketball (@DelawareWBB) January 18, 2022

Battle followed with 17 points (6-of-8 FG, 5-of-6 FT) and 11 rebounds to register her ninth double-double on the season. She also added two steals and a block to her stat line. Skinner chipped in 10 points.

Kiki Jefferson paced James Madison with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Jaylin Carodine pulled down 14 rebounds.

Delaware shot 35.5 percent (22-of-62) from the field, 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from beyond the arc and 65.2 percent (15-of-23) from the free-throw line. James Madison connected on 31.1 percent (23-of-74) from the field, 14.3 percent (3-of-21) from three-point territory and 42.1 percent (8-of-19) from the charity stripe. Although the Dukes held the rebound margin advantage (52-47), the Blue Hens scored 17 second-chance points off of 14 offensive rebounds. Delaware outplayed James Madison in assists (9-5), blocks (7-0), steals (7-5), fast break points (6-2) while scoring seven points off of 10 Duke miscues. James Madison held the edge in points in the paint (36-26 and, bench points (10-1).

WHAT'S NEXT
The Blue Hens will opening their four-straight CAA road slate Sunday, Jan. 23 against the defending champions and last remaining undefeated team in conference play Drexel (13-2, 5-0 CAA) inside Daskalakis Athletic Center in Philadelphia. Opening tip is set for 2 p.m.

Gallery: (1-18-2022) Women's Basketball vs. JMU

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