CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (Dec. 3) -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team lost to in-state rival #20 Virginia, 78-67, Sunday afternoon at University Hall in Charlottesville. With the loss, the Lady Monarchs fall to 1-3 while the Cavaliers improve to 5-3.
The Lady Monarchs jumped out to a quick 14-4 lead behind sharp shooting from five different players before Virginia used a 7-2 run to cut the Old Dominion lead to five. The Lady Monarchs built the lead back to 10 behind six bench points from Okeisha Howard (Virginia Beach, Va.). Howard ended the game with 17 points.
With 3:19 left in the first half, Virginia took a 27-26 lead and kept a slight advantage until late in the game. Old Dominion mounted a late comeback, cutting the margin at 59-57 behind consecutive three-pointers by Howard. Virginia, however, took the lead for good behind a combined 11-point spurt from Schuye LaRue and Chelsea Whitaker. Svetlana Volnaya led all Cavaliers with 15 points, including a perfect 5-for-5 from the field.
Old Dominion's Hamchetou Maiga (Bamako, Mali) led all scorers with a game-high 19 points to go with nine rebounds. Howard followed with 17 points off the bench for the Lady Monarchs while junior guard Sharron Francis (West Lanham Hills, Md.) added 13.
Old Dominion (1-3) will conclude its road swing Thursday at St. John's in a 7:30 pm game. The Lady Monarchs will return to the Fieldhouse on December 18 when they take on UCLA at 7:35 pm.