James Madison Dukes win Colonial Athletic Association title

For all the attention she's received as one of the nation's top scorers for the past two seasons, James Madison's Dawn Evans knew something was missing.

She got it Sunday, scoring 25 points to lead the Dukes to a 67-53 victory against Old Dominion in the Colonial Athletic Association championship game in Harrisonburg, Va.

"I felt I had something to prove," said Evans, who was motivated by being overlooked in the conference player of the year voting. "A championship proves it."

The Dukes (26-6) won the league's automatic NCAA tournament bid for the first time since 1989 and ended a streak of seven losing trips to the title game. Five of those losses had come against the Lady Monarchs.

A year ago, the Dukes also reached the championship game, but lost to Drexel.

Afterward, they wore "the longest faces I've ever been associated with dealing with student-athletes," Coach Kenny Brooks recalled after an on-court celebration. "To be able to come back a year later and be able to hoist that trophy, it's a tremendous feeling."

That's especially true for Evans, who earlier this season was found to have focal segmental glomerular sclerosis, a kidney disease that disrupts the filtering system in her kidneys, causing high blood pressure and leaving her with low energy at times.

She could require a transplant as early as this summer.

"I'm drained, but I can't say that alone," she said. "My teammates are drained, but the game was on the line. Our season was on the line."

Old Dominion (18-13), which had its NCAA-record streak of 17 consecutive tournament titles end last season with a loss to Drexel in the semifinals, trailed most of the game.

The Lady Monarchs closed within five with 7 minutes 24 seconds remaining, but got no closer. "It just felt like we were digging out of a hole," said Jasmine Parker, who led the Lady Monarchs with 15 points. "We would go on a run and cut the lead back and then James Madison would go on another run. . . . They did all the little things that we didn't do."

Evans, who played all but three minutes, made the decisive play of the game. Tia Lewis rebounded her own miss and was preparing to shoot again when Nikki Newman ripped the ball from her hands and sent it to Evans for a layup to make it 60-49.