Tribe Falls to No. 25 JMU, 72-59

Senior Katy Neumer totals a career-high 17 points

02/04/07 4:55PM

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The William and Mary women’s basketball team lost at home for just the second time this season, as it fell to No. 25 James Madison, 72-59, on Sunday afternoon in Williamsburg. The Tribe is now 14-8 overall and 6-5 in CAA play, while the Dukes improve to 19-2 overall and 11-0 in conference action.

W&M out-shot JMU 40.4 percent (21-of-52) to 40.0 percent (26-of-65). Additionally, the College sank 42.9 percent of its shots from beyond the arc, connecting on 6-of-14 attempts.

Individually, senior Katy Neumer led the Tribe with a career-high 17 points. Junior Kyra Kaylor also came up big as she just missed out on earning a double-double with 15 points and nine rebounds. Senior Sarah Stroh also finished in double figures with 11 points. Freshman Tiffany Benson tallied three blocks and is now ranked sixth on the school’s all-time career list with 49.

The Tribe began the game playing well defensively and held JMU scoreless for the opening five minutes. The Green and Gold limited the Dukes to just 2-of-13 shooting to begin the contest and utilized a 13-4 run to build a 10-point lead, 19-9, with 10:13 showing. Neumer and Stroh both made three-pointers during the stretch.

However, James Madison charged back with an 11-2 run during the next four minutes to narrow the gap to one, 21-20. The score remained close during the next few minutes, but the Dukes closed the half by scoring seven of the final nine points to take a 34-30 lead into the locker room.

At the intermission, W&M was shooing 44.4 percent and held JMU to just 33.3 percent from the field. Kaylor led the squad with six points and five rebounds, while Neumer had five points and three steals.

Little changed in the initial minutes of the second stanza, as the Dukes led by five, 39-34, at the first media timeout. Shortly thereafter, though, James Madison scored five unanswered points to take its first double-digit lead of the game, 44-34, with 13:46 to play.

Neumer sank a three-ball to cut the lead to seven, but JMU countered with a 9-2 run to push the advantage to 14 points, 55-41.

While the Tribe narrowed the margin to 10 points following a pair of free throws by Kaylor with 5:32 remaining, it was unable to get any closer as JMU earned its 11th consecutive win.

The Tribe will be in action again when it plays at Hofstra on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Box Score