Dukes Blow Past Cougars In Cooper-Williams' Return

The 6-foot-2 center said it was tougher for her to find comfort playing in new rec-spec goggles than regaining her customary role with the Dukes. She even had to try on multiple pairs of the glasses before finding ones she would wear, and eventually thrive in.

“Two,” Cooper-Williams said with a laugh. “Two very expensive pairs that I refused to put on, but it was the second pair.”

And those goggles she begrudgingly wore in order to get back on the hardwood, didn’t stop her from doing what she does best — scoring inside the paint and controlling the glass.

Cooper-Williams tallied nine points, 12 rebounds and five blocks in the Dukes’ 76-35 romp of College of Charleston at the Convocation Center on Friday in Harrisonburg.

“Kayla was like glad to be back,” JMU coach Sean O’Regan said. “And you could tell she valued being out and now being back.

“… But she was great, I thought, throughout. She must be allergic to double-doubles or something like that, but nine, 12 and five, I can live with game in and game out. I’m glad to have her back. She’s so trustworthy on both ends of the floor.”

Cooper-Williams came one point shy of posting a double-double, but had 10 or more rebounds in a game for the 12th time this season in her return to floor after suffering an eye injury during a collision in JMU’s win last week at Northeastern. She missed the team’s win over Hofstra this past Sunday.

“With what happened I wasn’t allowed to do a whole bunch of movement or yelling,” Cooper-Williams said. “I literally had to sit there and watch, which was difficult.”

She was at her best when the Dukes (19-4, 11-1 Colonial Athletic Association) separated from the Cougars (7-16, 3-9 CAA) during a 12-0 run beginning in the first quarter and spanning into the second.

Her old-fashion three-point play with 8:17 to go the second quarter capped the run and she had five points, three rebounds and a block during that stretch, which coincided with a dry spell for College of Charleston.

College of Charleston went nearly 10 minutes without a field goal, starting at the 7:43 mark of the first quarter and ending at the 7:53 mark of the second.

“I think they played well defensively,” College of Charleston coach Candice Jackson said of JMU. “They always do, and their size definitely bothered us.”

Dukes guard Logan Reynolds recorded a game-high four steals as JMU forced 19 turnovers it would score 25 points off of.

“We get the majority of our points and our bounce from the defensive end,” said Reynolds, who also had a game-best nine assists. “That’s how we win games. We hold people and we take pride in it.”

O’Regan said Reynolds and Cooper-Williams both should make the All-CAA defensive team at the end of the season, and Jackson said Cooper-Williams was the difference on Friday.

“She changes the game for them,” Jackson said. “With the shooters they have on the outside, it’s good for them to be able to get the ball inside and you have to guard her because you have to respect her on the offensive and defensive end. So with her inside, if you’re not stopping her from getting the ball, you just have to take what you get and she’s giving it to you sometimes.”

JMU’s lead ballooned in the second half thanks to strong performances off the bench from Jackie Benitez, Eleanore Marciszewski, Tori Harris and Jaylin Carodine. Benitez poured in a game-high 11 points, Marciszewski had nine points and the Dukes’ bench outscored the Cougars’ 40-13.

“The crew we put in the last five minutes of the game played extremely well,” O’Regan said. “They’re getting better and I’m very, very proud of their progression. Eleanore coming in scoring and then Tori’s pass to Jaylin was great.

“It gave the crowd really something to cheer about.”