Hoosiers Fall To Dukes In Second Round of WNIT

By Josh Olmsted: SPM IND Writer
Posted Saturday, March 22, 2008

JMU’s Dawn Evans (23), who scored 38 points, blew by IU’s Kim Roberson. Photo by Sue Wilden.

BLOOMINGTON, IN – The Indiana Hoosiers fell in overtime to the James Madison Dukes 86-81 at Indiana’s Assembly Hall. The Dukes dominated the Hoosiers on the glass, outrebounding the home team 46-28, including 18 offensive rebounds.

“It’s us,” said JMU Coach Kenny Brooks. “You know we’ve done it since game one. We’ve outrebounded opponents by 30+ before. We’ve had as many as 60 rebounds in a game. I wish I could tell you that it’s something that I’m doing. I wish I could, but I was a point guard and I didn’t rebound. It’s mainly the kids and the mindset they have.”

The Dukes were led by senior forward Tamera Young and freshman guard Dawn Evans. The duo combined to score 68 points (30 and 38 respectively). Afterwards, Young talked about what it would mean to her to finish her career with a WNIT Championship.

“Oh man, it would mean so much,” said Young. “I’ve been trying to get a ring for four years and it’s just like we were always right there and I didn’t get one. When Coach Davis told me about the WNIT schedule, and she showed me her ring that she got from the WNIT, I was like 'We can get that.' I’m just going out every game, playing like it’s my last because that’s something I’ve always really wanted to happen.”

Indiana got a big game from junior forward Whitney Thomas who finished with 26 points, eight rebounds, and four steals. She was joined in double figures by four other Hoosiers, but it wasn’t enough to outlast JMU.

Hoosier Coach Felisha Legette-Jack was dejected afterwards, but knows that better days are ahead.

“What a year,” said Legette-Jack. “We certainly had bigger plans than this in our second year here. To have five players in double figures, to go 30-37 from the free throw line, to have 11 assists. To me, I think that if anybody deserved to win, I certainly thought that we put ourselves in position to win. I’m very proud of this team. I think that we lost our poise a little bit, but for such a freshman-laden team, for us to lose our poise just a little bit exhilarates us to believe that the future is going to be bright.”

Indiana held an 11-point lead with 5:33 to go in the game when the Dukes made their run. Sparked by a couple of Young free throws and a deep 3-pointer by Evans, JMU would outscore the Hoosiers 20-9 to finish the second half and get the game into overtime.

Indiana junior guard Kim Roberson, the Hoosiers best defender, went down with what appeared to be an ankle sprain with less than 30 seconds left in regulation. She did not return for the overtime, and it showed. The Dukes scored 14 points in the overtime period, including two 3-pointers, as the Hoosiers had no answers for the offensive barrage.

With the win JMU advances to the third round of the WNIT and will play at Kentucky this Friday.

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