NORFOLK, VA. (November 12) -- Junior All-American candidate Lucienne Berthieu(Rennes, France)scored 36 points, and grabbed 23 rebounds to help lead the Lady Monarchs to a107-58 exhibition win over a Russian squad from Vologda.
Four Lady Monarchs were in double figures. Joining Berthieuwere Hamchetou Maiga (Bamako, Mali) and Tiffany Thompson(Clinton,MD.) with 14 points each. Maiga also hauled in11 rebounds, dished out five assists and came up with fivesteals. Sophomore guard Sharron Francis (Lanham Hill, Md.)scored 22 points and dished out seven assists. Freshmanguard Alli Spence (Lafayette, CO.) also dished out sevenassists.
The Lady Monarchs, ranked 15th by both the ASSOCIATEDPRESS and the TODAY/CNN shot a blistering .634 from thefloor (26-41) in the first half, and ended up hitting .500for the game. The Lady Monarchs outrebounded the Russians,55-28 and forced them into 26 turnovers.
Natalia Marchenko led the Russians with 19 points, hitting five-of-sevenfrom three-point range. They playat George Washington on Sunday.
The Lady Monarchs played with only eight players asboth Natalie Diaz and Mandy Olley are nursing injuries andare day-to-day.
Old Dominion opens the regular season on Friday, Nov.19 against Hampton University at 7:35 p.m.