HARRISONBURG, VA -- The University of Delaware fell behind by 11 points] at halftime and never could gain enough ground to take the lead in the second half in dropping a 65-57 verdict to host James Madison in a key Colonial Athletic Association women’s basketball matchup Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center.

James Madison (16-4, 8-3 CAA), which won its 10th straight home game and did so before a season-high crowd of 3,081, moved into a tie for second place in the league standings with Delaware behind front-runner Old Dominion. Guard Tamara Young poured in a game-high 23 points and pulled eight rebounds while forward Meredith Alexis recorded her 34th career double-double and 10th of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. The Dukes avenged a 70-62 loss to the Blue Hens in Newark, DE back on Jan. 8.

Delaware (16-4, 8-3 CAA), which had won seven of its last eight games, had a three game win streak snapped despite a team-high 22 points from guard Tyresa Smith and a big effort off the bench from forward Courtney Irving (right), who contributed a career high 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field and pulled six rebounds in just 19 minutes of action. No other Blue Hen player scored more than seven points.

“We didn’t do a good job of limiting their athleticism today,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose squad has suffered all four of its losses this season on the road. “But there is another day for us and with 16 wins no one will feel bad for us. We just have to come back home and get ready for next weekend. Our goal is to finish in the top four in the conference.”

James Madison shot just 33.9 percent from the field for the game (20 of 59) and committed 22 turnovers, but more than made up for it on the boards. The Dukes, who entered the game ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division in rebounding margin with a +9.1 mark, outrebounded the Blue Hens 46-37, gaining half of them on the offensive side. In addition to Alexis’ 10 rebounds and eight from Young, the balanced Dukes also got nine from Shirley McCall and seven from Lesley Dickinson. The Dukes also converted 24 of 29 free throws, including 10 of 12 over the final 20 minutes, and outscored the Hens by 14 from the foul line.

Delaware had a hard time finding its shooting range as well. The Blue Hens converted just 8 of 26 shots from the field in the first half and just 15 of 38 in the second stanza to finish at 35.9 percent for the afternoon. Starting point guard Alena Koshansky was held scoreless on 0 for 10 shooting and fellow guard Melissa Czorniewy, who had scored in double figures in seven of her last eight games, hit just 2 of 12 shots from the field to finish with six points before fouling out with 5:40 left. Delaware also turned the ball over 18 times, the team’s second highest total this season.

The Hens led by as much as eight points in the early going at 12-4 but JMU eventually tied the contest at 16-16 with 8:16 remaining and outscored Delaware 15-4 the rest of the way to take a 31-20 advantage into the break. The Hens hit just one of their final eight shots of the half and turned the ball over eight times during that span.

A quick start to the second half helped the Blue Hens cut the lead down to 37-35 with 13:49 remaining on two free throws by Smith, but the Dukes scored 16 of the next 24 points to push the lead back to double digits at 53-43 with 7:03 to go. Delaware eventually cut the lead to six points at 63-57 with 1:18 remaining on a jumper by Chrissy Fisher, but the Hens missed their final three shots from the field and Andrea Benvenuto hit two free throws with 32 seconds left to seal the win.

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