HARRISONBURG, Va., Feb. 8, 2010 -- Drexel, the preseason favorite to win the Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball championship, faces James Madison Monday evening (7 p.m.) at the JMU Convocation Center.  The game will be played Monday evening as planned despite JMU being closed for the day because of the weekend storm.

It's a re-match of last year's CAA title game, won by Drexel 64-58.  The teams have already met once this season, with the Dragons coming away with a 68-67 win on their home court on Jan. 3.

Duke Dog Reading Day:  Monday's game was originally scheduled for Sunday afternoon but was postponed until Monday due to the weekend snowstorm in the mid-Atlantic region.  The game was also designated as JMU's annual Duke Dog Reading Day, but that program will now take place on Sunday, Feb. 28, when JMU hosts William and Mary.

For Monday's game vs. Drexel, JMU will still admit Duke Dog Reading Program participants both with and without tickets.  For the rescheduled official Duke Dog Reading Program game on Feb. 28, new tickets for Duke Dog Reading Program participants will be distributed within the next two weeks. 

The Duke Dog Reading Program, in its 20th year, encourages reading by area elementary school students. 

Scouting Drexel:  Defending CAA champion Drexel (14-6, 8-2 CAA), coming off of a road loss to Towson, travels to Harrisonburg to take on the Dukes for the second time this season.

Three of the Dragons' CAA games have gone to overtime, and all of Drexel's league games have been decided by 10 or fewer points.

In conference play Drexel has won home contests over JMU (68-67), William and Mary (46-43), George Mason (59-51), VCU (55-53) and Delaware (60-58, OT) and has posted road wins over Hofstra (51-41), Delaware (70-67, 2 OT) and Northeastern (91-84, OT).  The team's two CAA losses were at ODU (69-59) and on Thursday at Towson (53-48).  Thursday's loss snapped a six-game win streak.

As a team, Drexel leads the NCAA in free throw percentage (80.9%).

The Dragon's top scorer is 6-1 senior forward Gabriela Marginean, last year's CAA Player of the Year and the 2009-10 preseason CAA Player of the Year.  Marginean is averaging 23.2 points, which places her third in the CAA and seventh in the NCAA.  She is also the team's top rebounder (7.4).  In the loss to Towson, Marginean had a game-high 28 points.

Also averaging in double figures is 5-11 sophomore guard Kamile Nacickaite (12.1).  She was the only other Dragon to score in double figures in the loss to Towson.  Nacickaite played for the Lithuanian Under-20 National Team in 2008.

Jasmina Rosseel, a 5-8 junior guard, was third team All-CAA last year and preseason All-CAA second team this year.  Rosseel is the team's third leading scorer, averaging 10.6 points.

Head coach Denise Dillon was the CAA Coach of the Year in 2008-09 when she led the Dragons to the conference championship and the NCAA tournament.  In her seventh season as head coach, she has a career record of 110-91.

Drexel has been picked to win the CAA title again in 2010, according to a vote of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media members.

Scouting JMU:  After beating the Virginia Commonwealth Rams on the road on Thursday, the Dukes return to their home court to host Drexel.  JMU enters the Drexel game with a 17-4 overall record and a 7-3 CAA record.

Leading the Dukes in scoring (24.7) and assists (4.4) is 5-7 junior guard Dawn Evans.  Evans is a preseason All-America and Wooden, Wade and Naismith award candidate for Player of the Year.  However, she suffered an ankle injury in Thursday's win at VCU, and her playing status is day-to-day.

Tarik Hislop, a 5-7 freshman guard, is the team's second-leading scorer with 10.7 points per game. 

Sarah Williams, a 6-0 redshirt senior guard, averages 9.7 points and is the team's leading rebounder (6.9).  Jalissa Taylor, a 6-3 junior forward, ranks second on the team in rebounding (6.4). 

JMU finished last season with a record of 24-10, marking the Dukes' fourth consecutive season with 24 or more wins.  JMU is picked to finish second in the CAA behind defending champion Drexel (4-3).

Coach Kenny Brooks enters the game with a career record of 163-76.  Last season his Dukes advanced to the second round of the WNIT in their fourth straight postseason appearance.

The Series:  JMU leads the series 8-7, with all 15 games coming since the 2001-02 season, when Drexel joined the CAA.

JMU has never lost to Drexel during the regular season at home.  The only win for the Dragons in the Convocation Center came last year in the CAA tournament final, when the Dragons beat the Dukes 64-58.

With the exception of a 21-point JMU win in the 2006-07 season, the recent series has consisted of close games.  Only four of the last 12 games were decided by more than four points.

Earlier in the season when the Dukes and the Dragons met in Philadelphia on Jan. 3, Drexel narrowly edged out JMU 68-67.  Drexel was up by as many as nine points in the second half, 62-53, with 4:33 to play, but the Dukes fought back to cut the lead to two with 48.9 seconds to go.  The Dragons hit six of six free throw attempts when JMU was forced to foul down the stretch.  JMU's Dawn Evans had six of her 30 points in the last minute, including a three-pointer at the buzzer that cut the lead to one.

CAA Standings (through Feb. 6)
1.       Old Dominion (9-1)
2.       Virginia Commonwealth (8-2)
          Drexel (8-2)
4.         James Madison (7-3)
5.       Delaware (6-4)
6.       Hofstra (5-5)
7.       Towson (4-6)
          Northeastern (4-6)
9.       Georgia State (3-7)
          William and Mary (3-7)
11.     UNC Wilmington (2-8)
12.     George Mason (1-9)