No. 15 Lady Monarchs Win Easily Against St. John's, 89-50

NORFOLK, VA.. (Feb. 22)-- The 15th-ranked Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (21-4) dominated their game on February 22nd as they defeated St. John's University (9-16), 89-50, at the Old Dominion Fieldhouse. The win was ODU's 21st straight at home.

The Lady Monarchs jumped out to an early lead outscoring St. John's 10-2 with 16:40 left in the first half. St. John's cut the lead to 16-12 with 10:41 left in the half but the Lady Monarchs tough defensive zone created 13 Red Storm turnovers.

Old Dominion went on a scoring run led by senior guard Natalie Diaz (Needles, Calif.) with 12 points in the half to make it a 43-20 halftime score.

The Lady Monarchs started the second half out strong increasing their lead to 57-27 with 14:30 left in the game. The Red Storm tried to use a full court press against Old Dominion but they could only get within 22 points.

Natalie Diaz led six Lady Monarchs in double figures with 16 points. Freshman guard Okeisha Howard (Virginia Beach, Va.) finished with 15, while sophomore guard Sharron Francis (West Lanham Hills, MD) recorded a double-double with ten points and 11 rebounds. Senior forward Nicole Bellinghausen (Las Vegas, NV) came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points.

Giani Bowles led the Red Storm with 15 points and Aiysha Smith had 11.

Old Dominion coach Wendy Larry had her 350th career win tonight. The Lady Monarchs will play their next game Friday night at James Madison at 7:30 pm.