HARRISONBURG, Va. – Jenifer Rhodes hit a layup midway through the second quarter to record her 1,000th career points as a member of the Elon University women's basketball team, but the Phoenix fell short on Sunday afternoon, Feb. 12, in a 61-54 loss to James Madison inside the JMU Convocation Center.
 
Shay Burnett led the Phoenix with 12 points. She also had seven rebounds and four assists in 34 minutes. Malaya Johnson also scored 11 points with three rebounds in a career-high-tying 37 minutes and Rhodes notched 10 points. Lenaira Ruffin played a big role off the bench with seven points with a career-high-tying eight rebounds and two steals in 20 minutes.
 
Amber Porter led the Dukes with 20 points on 7-of-11 shooting in just 19 minutes of action. Precious Hall added 15 points with 12 of them coming in the second half. Porter and Hall were the only two JMU players in double figures with Kamiah Smalls and Savannah Felgemacher each notching six points.
 
The Rundown
After Rhodes and Lauren Brown hit two layups to open the game for the Phoenix, the two teams went back and forth with Elon taking a 9-7 lead after a Burnett three-pointer with 6:28 left in the quarter. From there, the Dukes closed the quarter on a 15-4 run to lead 22-13 after 10 minutes.
 
Johnson opened the second quarter with a field goal to make it a seven-point game at 22-15, but Tasia Butler scored the game's next four points to force a Phoenix timeout. Out of the stoppage, Elon went on a 13-5 run in the remaining 7:37 of the quarter and held JMU without a field goal for the next 5:24 of game action to cut the lead from a game-high 11 at 26-15 to just three at 31-28 at halftime.
 
Though both offenses struggled after half, Johnson hit her third-career three-pointer and first since Elon defeated Central Michigan earlier this season on Nov. 19 to tie the game at 33-all with 6:05 to go in the third quarter. Trading points down the stretch in the quarter, Elon used a 5-0 run in the final 1:16 with three Ruffin free throws to lead 44-41.
 
Early in the fourth, Elon held JMU scoreless for the opening 3:42 and took a 46-41 lead before the Dukes went on a 7-0 run with five of those points coming from Hall to lead 48-46 at the final media timeout with 4:32 to play.
 
On the other side of the media timeout, the Dukes continued the run with nine more points and it ultimately turned into a 16-2 run with JMU leading 57-48 with 1:55 to play. In the closing minutes, Elon attacked the bucket and drew multiple fouls, but the Dukes kept the Phoenix at arm's length to hold on for the win. 
 
Notes
- Jenifer Rhodes became the 23rd player in program history to reach the 1,000-career point mark. With Lauren Brown and Shay Burnett also achieving the accomplishment this season, it is the first time Elon has had three players reach the milestone in the same season.
- JMU hit eight shots in the first quarter in shooting 8-for-17, but the Elon defense clamped down and only allowed the Dukes to hit eight of its next 34 over the course of the second and third quarters until the 6:27 point of the fourth quarter.
- Trailing after one quarter, it marked the first time since Jan. 22 at William & Mary that Elon trailed after the first quarter. Last month, the Phoenix trailed the Tribe 19-13 after one but ultimately won 60-58.
- Down by three at halftime, it's the first time Elon trailed at half in a game since Jan. 6 at Drexel. That day, the Phoenix rebounded to come out with a 48-45 win, the program's first-ever victory over the Dragons.
 
 
Up Next
The Phoenix returns to Alumni Gym next weekend for the annual Play4Kay game against Hofstra on Thursday, Feb. 16, and Senior Day on Sunday, Feb. 19, against William & Mary. Opening tip next time out against the Pride is set for 7 p.m.