JMU roundup: Nations earns top honor

Daily Staff Reports - sports@nvdaily.com

HARRISONBURG -- Freshman guard Andre Nation had important contributions in a pair of James Madison victories last week to collect his third Colonial Athletic Association men's basketball Rookie of the Week honor on Monday.

Nation helped JMU twice take down the second-place team in the CAA as the Dukes upped their recent streak to seven wins in the last nine games to achieve a second-place tie in the standings.

On Tuesday, Nation went 5-for-5 from the field with 14 points as Madison took down Towson 75-70. Then on Sunday, he gathered in a lob pass from Devon Moore with one second remaining and flushed it home for a 72-71 road win at Delaware.

In addition to the 16 points, Nation added four steals, a block, two assists and four rebounds for the week.

Nation was also selected as Rookie of the Week on Dec. 10 and Jan. 28. He ranks third in scoring among CAA freshmen with 8.9 points per game and eighth in rebounding at 2.8 per game. He is also averaging 1.56 steals and 1.15 blocks per game while shooting 39 percent overall and 31 percent from the arc.

After taking down a pair of second-place squads, the Dukes travel to Boston on Wednesday to take on first-place Northeastern at 7 p.m. with television coverage on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic and New England.

Women's basketball
HARRISONBURG -- James Madison senior Tarik Hislop on Monday was named the Colonial Athletic Association Player of the Week.

The Dukes point guard was a key component in two JMU victories last week, as JMU improved to 17-8 overall and 11-2 in league play with wins on the road at Old Dominion (68-56 on Feb. 12) and Hofstra (68-60 on Feb. 17). The Dukes remained in second place in the league standings.

Hislop scored a game-high 22 points, 18 of them in the second half, to lead JMU to the win at ODU. Hislop also handed out a game-high four assists in the contest.

At Hofstra she tallied a game-high 24 points, including a career-high four 3-pointers, and led JMU with four assists. Hislop scored 16 of JMU's 29 second-half points and eight of JMU's last 16 points as the Dukes outscored Hofstra 16-7 in final 4:24. She hit a key 3-pointer as the shot clock expired with 4:24 to play.

In last week's games Hislop shot 44 percent from the field overall (18-41) and from 3-point range (4-9) as well as 75 percent (6-8) at the foul line.

Last week Hislop also increased her school records of career starts to 128 and consecutive games played to 129. She also upped her career assist total to 356 and moved into sole possession of eighth place on JMU's all-time list, passing passed Emily McCracken (352, '92).