HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Georgetown University women's basketball team fell 69-57 to the James Madison University Dukes (3-0) Friday evening at the Convocation Center.  With the loss, the Hoyas drop to 3-1 on the young season in one of their toughest matchups thus far.
 
"James Madison always has a great turnout when you come down here, but I just think we couldn't get into a rhythm and I don't know if that was the atmosphere or us," said Georgetown Head Coach James Howard.  "I'm disappointed that we came out and allowed a 5-0 lead because we weren't locked in and that's the way we played all night." 
 
Senior Dionna White (Baltimore, Md. / Milford Mill) led the Hoyas with 22 points, while graduate student Mikayla Venson (Arlington, Va. / Yorktown / Virginia) added 14. Venson tallied five assists and five rebounds, while White recorded eight boards and two steals. 
 
The Blue & Gray was outrebounded 47-37 and committed 14 turnovers while forcing 11 from the Dukes on eight steals.  Georgetown also had eight blocks in the game.  JMU edged GU in shooting percentage as the Dukes hit 35.8 percent (24 of 67) from the field, while the Hoyas managed 33.3 percent (20 of 60) from the field.  
 
The Dukes opened the contest with a 5-0 run, as the GU offense was cold.  A jumper from senior guard Brianna Jones (North Babylon, N.Y. / North Babylon / Louisville) started the scoring as the Blue & Gray came roaring back.  Venson grabbed the long offensive rebound and stepped back for the trey to tie the game at eight.  JMU would regain the lead, but a layup from White at the end of the stanza made it 10-9 in favor of the Hoyas to complete the first quarter.
 
A free throw from graduate student Dorothy Adomako (Midlothian, Va. / Cosby) tied the game at 13, but JMU answered with a 3-pointer.  With the crowd roaring, Venson came down and sank a trey of her own to tie it back up.  The game turned into a track meet and neither team could gain an advantage in the fast-paced play. 
 
The squads traded 3-pointers before a 5-0 run gave JMU the 21-17 advantage.  The Dukes managed to lead by as much as six down the stretch, but White had a steal at midcourt and converted the layup to pull GU within two.  A late three-point play would hurt Georgetown's comeback as the Blue & Gray went into the break trailing 30-25.
 
A jumper from junior Anita Kelava (Zagreb, Croatia / Croatian National Team / Maine) and a trey by White tied the game at 30 to open the second half.  As White connected on the three-point play and Venson added a fadeaway jumper from the baseline, back-to-back 3-pointers by the Dukes allowed JMU to hold onto a small advantage. 
 
The Hoyas continued to battle and a layup from junior Morgan Smith (Upper Marlboro, Md. / Riverdale Baptist) under the basket tied the game at 41.  JMU found answers every time the Blue & Gray scored and the Dukes led by one 45-44 at the end of the third.
 
JMU went ahead by as much as seven 53-46 early in the fourth as the Hoyas tried to battle back.  Another layup made it a nine-point game and forced Howard to call timeout.  The comeback would not come, however, as the Dukes pulled away down the stretch resulting in the 69-57 final.
 
The Hoyas will return home on Monday as the squad hosts the Pitt Panthers at McDonough Arena in a 7 p.m. matchup.  Live stats and a webcast featuring Monika Moore will be available at www.GUHoyas.com.  Admission for fans will be complimentary.