Senior Leader not Going Lightly

Tamera Young stepped to the free throw line unsure why she was taking the technical shots.

The senior forward didn’t realize that JMU coach Kenny Brooks chose her over point guard Dawn Evans – who usually takes technical shots – because Young was on the cusp of another JMU scoring record.

“When coach made me shoot the technical foul I was kind of surprised being with my free throw percentage that he told me to ‘shoot ’em,’” Young said. “Everybody was celebrating and I’m like, ‘what are they celebrating for?’”

While she only averages 64.8 percent from the stripe, Brooks chose her because she was one point from breaking JMU’s former scoring record of 35 points in a game. After Young made both technical shots and another free throw, she set the new mark at 38 in Madison’s 80-58 win over Radford in the first round of the Women’s National Invitation Tournament.

“We didn’t want to sacrifice sportsmanship to try to get her the record, but the way that it happened it was beautiful,” Brooks said. “And she had no idea.”

With the win, Madison (23-9) advances to play Indiana on Saturday. In addition to her scoring outburst, Young had 14 rebounds and 5 assists against Radford while she made 14-of-24 shots. She didn’t realize what she had accomplished until after the crowd of 2,109 erupted when she made the record-setting technical shot. Point guard Dawn Evans relayed the news.

But Radford coach Jeri Porter was surprised by something else.

“I didn’t realize she was as good a rebounder as she is,” Porter said. “We knew they were a great rebounding team, we had talked about that. She’s a heck of a rebounder though; does a great job. Just has a nose for the ball, which most great players do.”

Radford (23-12) was led in scoring by freshman guard Taleia Moton, who got eight of her 14 points from the free throw line. Senior center Kelli Darden and senior forward Corrie Fertitta had 11 and 10, respectively. Radford shot only 30 percent in the game.

The win was JMU’s first postseason victory in eight years, a possibility Brooks made clear before the game by writing in on a whiteboard in their locker room.

“These kids, they listen,” Brooks said. “It’s funny to hear them up here and listen to them talk, because they sound just like me. …They know what the task is, they know what we have to do to become successful.”

Young was joined in double figures by senior forward Jennifer Brown and junior forward Kisha Stokes, who scored 11 and 9 points, respectively. Brown also chipped in 11 rebounds and Stokes had 10, as JMU out-rebounded Radford 54-37.

The Dukes travel to Indiana tomorrow for a Saturday game against the Hoosiers in the second round of the NIT. Indiana (18-14) had a first-round bye as one of the region’s top four seeds.