James Madison Dukes women's basketball

James Madison Dukes
2024–25 James Madison Dukes women's basketball team
University	James Madison University
Head coach	Sean O'Regan (9th season)
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
Location	Harrisonburg, Virginia
Arena	Atlantic Union Bank Center (capacity: 8,500)
Nickname	Dukes
Student section	Electric Zoo
Colors	Purple and gold[1]
Uniforms
Home Away
NCAA tournament Sweet Sixteen
1986, 1987, 1988, 1991
NCAA tournament round of 32
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2014
NCAA tournament appearances
1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2023
AIAW tournament appearances
1975
Conference tournament champions
CAA: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016 Sun Belt: 2023
Conference regular season champions
CAA: 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018, 2019 Sun Belt: 2023

The James Madison Dukes women's basketball team is the basketball team that represents James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, United States. The school's team currently competes in the Sun Belt Conference after previously playing in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).^[2] The Dukes are led by fifth-year head coach Sean O'Regan.

The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA Division I tournament thirteen times, most recently in 2023. Including Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) berths, the Dukes played in a post-season tournament each season from 2006 through 2019.

History

James Madison's women's basketball program is among the oldest in the nation, being founded in 1920. The program's first coach, Althea Loose Johnston, coached the team to a 106-33-5 record during her 22 year career. ^[3] Through the end of the 2022–23 season, the Dukes have compiled a record of 1200-585 (.672), the fourth most wins among all Division I programs and only one of four with over 1,200 wins.

In the 1986 and 1991 NCAA women's tournaments, they upset the #1 seed (Virginia in the former and Penn State in the latter) while ranked #8 (the lowest seed at the time), being the first team to ever do that on the women's side (the size of the tournament for the former was 40 while the latter had 48 teams). They are one of only three schools to upset a #1 seed while ranked as the lowest seed (the other being Southwest Missouri State in 1992 and Harvard in 1998). They have made the NCAA Tournament in 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1996, 2007, 2010, 2011, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2023. They have made the WNIT in 2001, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2017, 2018, and 2019, finishing as runner-up in 2012.

Postseason results

NCAA Division I

The Dukes have appeared in the NCAA Division I Tournament twelve times. Their overall record in tournament games is 8–12.

Year	Round	Seed	Opponent	Result
1986	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#8	Providence Virginia Western Kentucky	W 55–53 W 71–62 L 72–51
1987	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#4	Vanderbilt Texas	W 68–60 L 91–51
1988	Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#4	Clemson Tennessee	W 70–63 L 72–52
1989	First Round Second Round	#6	Providence Ohio State	W 94–74 L 81–66
1991	First Round Second Round Sweet Sixteen	#8	Kentucky Penn State Clemson	W 70–62 W 73–71 L 57–55
1996	First Round	#13	Duke	L 85–53
2007	First Round	#9	Pittsburgh	L 71–61
2010	First Round	#9	Temple	L 65–53
2011	First Round	#11	Oklahoma	L 86–72
2014	First Round Second Round	#11	Gonzaga Texas A&M	W 72–63 L 85–69
2015	First Round	#12	Ohio State	L 90–80
2016	First Round	#11	DePaul	L 97–67
2023	First Round	#14	Ohio State	L 80-66

WNIT

The Dukes have appeared in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT) nine times. They have an overall tournament record of 22-9. In the 2012 tournament, the Dukes finished as runners-up to Oklahoma State.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
2001	First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals	Temple Georgetown Mississippi State Ohio State	W 59–57 W 78–74 W 63–61 L 74–65
2006	First Round	Charlotte	L 70–62
2008	First Round Second Round Third Round	Radford Indiana Kentucky	W 80–58 W 86–81^OT L 84–76
2009	First Round Second Round	American Richmond	W 61–59 L 59–57
2012	First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals Semifinals Championship	Davidson Wake Forest South Florida Virginia Syracuse Oklahoma State	W 64–49 W 84–76^OT W 72–45 W 68–59 W 74–71 L 75-68
2013	First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals	North Carolina A&T NC State Fordham Florida	W 77–64 W 72–66 W 77–61 L 85-80
2017	First Round Second Round Third Round	Radford Virginia Villanova	W 80–59 W 61–55 L 69–67^OT
2018	First Round Second Round Third Round	ETSU Radford West Virginia	W 60–52 W 62–35 L 67–55
2019	First Round Second Round Third Round Quarterfinals Semifinals	North Carolina A&T South Florida Virginia Tech Georgetown Northwestern	W 48–37 W 71–54 W 70–66 W 54–44 L 74-69

AIAW Division I

The Dukes, then the Madison College Dukes, made one appearance in the AIAW National Division I basketball tournament, with a combined record of 0–2.

Year	Round	Opponent	Result
1975	First Round Consolation First Round	Queens (NY) William Penn	L, 50–83 L, 40–76

References

1. "Color Information" (PDF). JMU Official Athletics Identity Usage and Style Guide. July 12, 2023. Retrieved March 23, 2024.
2. "James Madison University". jmusports.com.
3. "JMU Women's Basketball History & Records" (PDF). James Madison University. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-13.

External links

• Official website