HARRISONBURG, Va. – East Carolina redshirt sophomore Jayla Hearp scored a team-high 15 points, while Amiya Joyner tallied her first double-double of the season netting 14 points with 12 rebounds in a 57-51 loss to James Madison Sunday afternoon inside Atlantic Union Bank Center.
JMU (3-0) jumped out to an early 6-0 lead during the first 90 seconds of play before Joyner got the Pirates (1-1) on the board with a layup in the paint. The Dukes extended their lead to 11 at one point with 2:4a to go before the Pirates closed out the period on a 9-3 run and trailed by five after the opening stanza.
Just two minutes into the second period, Jade Tillman and Hearp connected on consecutive three pointers giving ECU its first lead of the contest, 18-17, at the 8:17 mark. JMU’s Kseniia Kozlova made a pair of free throws helping the Dukes regain the lead at 19-18 just before going on a run to close first half with a five-point advantage, 29-24.
ECU came within three in the third quarter, 34-31, before JMU extended its lead to 10 with 1:51 remaining. Hearp’s layup with 45 seconds cut the score to 45-37 just before the period ended. The Dukes maintained their lead in the fourth quarter, but ECU got close making it a three-point game, 53-48, with 4:48 to go on Joyner’s jumper. With 16 seconds left in the contest, Joyner hit the front end of two free throw pulling the Pirates within four, 55-51, but Jamia Hazell sealed the victory for the Dukes making both free throws with 10 seconds on the clock securing the win.
Sophomore Jade Tillman (7) and freshman Devin Hagemann (4) established new career-highs in points, while Joyner led the team in rebounds (12) and assists (2).
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The Pirates will be back in Minges on Thursday, Nov. 14 playing host to Furman on ESPN+ with a 6 p.m. scheduled start time.
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