HARRISONBURG, VA -- Freshman guard Dawn Evans scored 15 points on five three-pointers and James Madison scored the last nine points of the game in a 64-55 victory over the University of Delaware women’s basketball team on Sunday at JMU Convocation Center.

Senior point guard Kyle DeHaven (at right) led the Blue Hens (7-20, 6-9 Colonial Athletic Association) with 15 points, nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals, netting 13 of her points in the second half. Sophomore center Farrah Ferguson added a career-high 10 points and four rebounds for the Hens, who dropped their second straight and lost to JMU for the fifth time in six meetings.

“I thought our team gave great effort today in a hostile environment,” said Delaware head coach Tina Martin, whose Hens have lost 20 games for the first time since a 6-21 season in 1997-98. “I saw some positive steps in our growth as a team. We came up short in the last three minutes after tying it up.”

Senior forward Tamera Young, who entered the game as the CAA’s leading scorer (20.0 ppg) and rebounder (10.2 rpg), tallied 13 points and 14 boards for James Madison (19-7, 12-3 CAA). She extended her JMU records with her 41st consecutive double-figure scoring effort and her 104th overall and posted her 14th double-double of the season and the 39th of her career. She also set a school record with 702 career field goals.

Forward Keisha Stokes also posted a double-double, her seventh of the season, with 11 points and 10 rebounds, while fellow forward Nina Uqdah chipped in with 10 points and five boards.

Freshman guard Tesia Harris netted nine points and went 3-for-4 from downtown for the Blue Hens, who also got six points and two assists from freshman Vanessa Kabongo.

Evans, who has gone 25-for-45 (.556) from downtown over her last five games, scored nine straight Madison points on three three-pointers during an 11-2 JMU run late in the first half. Her third trifecta, a high-arching 28-footer from the left wing, put the Dukes up 25-18 with 3:21 left in the first half. But Delaware battled back behind Ferguson, who scored the Hens’ last four points of the period to pull UD within 27-24 at intermission.

DeHaven cut the deficit to 32-30 on a double-pumping lay-up with 16:33 to play, but Evans canned another deep three during a 7-2 Dukes surge that extended the margin to seven. After the teams traded buckets for a few minutes, Harris and DeHaven drained three-pointers 40 seconds apart to trim the deficit to one point with 10:18 remaining.

Evans banked in a triple from 30 feet out a minute later, but Harris answered with a three of her own on the Blue Hens’ next trip down the floor to make the score 48-46 at the 8:45 mark. Stokes then scored five consecutive points for JMU, but the Hens wouldn’t wither. They mounted a 9-2 run to pull even at 4:11, when sophomore forward Sha’Ron Harrison muscled inside for a basket on a nifty feed from DeHaven.

With the score knotted at 55 and 3:57 left, UD missed a chance to take its first lead of the period when guard Vanessa Kabongo missed a long jumper. On the ensuing JMU possession, Uqdah put the Dukes ahead for good on a 10-footer. After an Uqdah free-throw, guard Courtney Hamner doubled Madison’s advantage with a straightaway three at the 2:35 mark, and the Dukes never looked back.

Delaware went 25-for-58 (.431) from the floor, the Hens’ best shooting performance since a Jan. 24 win over Georgia State, and hit 13 of 25 attempts (.520) in the second half.

UD forced 21 JMU turnovers, but the Hens committed 22 of their own and were outrebounded 38-33.

DeHaven now has 414 career steals, third-most in league history and just 10 short of passing VCU alum Rochelle Luckett for second all-time. She leads the nation with 116 steals and 4.6 spg.

The Blue Hens return to the court on Thursday, when they host Georgia State at 7 p.m.

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