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Nov. 8, 2013

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HARRISONBURG, Va. – The Virginia women’s basketball team opened the 2013-14 campaign with a 63-46 loss at James Madison.

Sophomore guard Faith Randolph (Derwood, Md.) scored 18 points, one shy of her career high.

“I give a lot of credit to James Madison,” said Virginia head coach Joanne Boyle. “They came out and played their style of ball. They were the aggressor. We got up early, but they came roaring back. They put a press on and we didn’t handle it. I am disappointed that we didn’t regroup and have that fight.”

Virginia started the game on a 10-0 run with Randolph scoring six of those points. The Dukes, who did not make a basket in the first three minutes of the game, outscored the Cavaliers 33-13 in the final 17 minutes of the period to take a 33-23 lead into the break.

The first half saw the two teams combined to go 14-of-47 from the field with 22 turnovers and 24 fouls.

In the second half, JMU pushed the lead to 15 with 12:23 remaining, but the Cavaliers charged back, narrowing the gap to eight, 51-43, on Randolph’s second three of the game. Kirby Burkholder hit her fourth three-pointer of the game for the Dukes to end the Cavaliers’ run and push the score back out to 54-43 with eight minutes remaining.

Virginia finished the game shooting 28.3 percent from the field, making 13 of 46 shot attempts. The Cavaliers were 1-of-12 from three-point range in the first period, ending the game 3-of-16.

JMU outrebounded UVa, 49-26, with the Dukes scoring 26 points off 23 offensive rebounds.

“I just felt like we didn’t come out with the right mentality on the boards and obviously they came to play tonight on the boards,” Boyle said. “I felt like they were getting every rebound and were getting second chances. We couldn’t respond to that. I think that is what killed us tonight.”

Randolph scored 13 of her 18 points in the first half. She also had three assists and a steal. Senior guard Ataira Franklin (Bowie, Md.) had a team-high five rebounds.

Two Cavaliers made their collegiate debuts. Freshman forward Sydney Umeri (Acworth, Ga.) started the game, scoring four points with three rebounds. Redshirt freshman Raeshaun Gaffney (Fairfield, Ohio) made her delayed collegiate debut, playing 16 minutes off the bench, scoring eight points with two steals.

Burkholder finished the game with 24 points and 16 rebounds to lead the Dukes.

The loss was the first time Virginia dropped its season opener since 2004-05 when the Cavaliers fell 60-50 to Arizona State.

The Cavaliers will be back in action on Monday, Nov. 11 when they host High Point in the home opener at John Paul Jones Arena. The game tips at 7 p.m.

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