RICHMOND, Va. (March 3) -- Old Dominion placed five players indouble figures, led by sophomore guard Okeisha Howard's game-high 21 pointsto post an 85-75 victory over Richmond in Colonial Athletic Associationwomen's basketball action tonight at the Robins Center.
Joining Howard in double figures for the Lady Monarchs(19-8, 15-1 CAA) were junior guard Sharron Francis (15 points), freshmanguard Monique Coker (14 points), senior forward Hamchetou Maiga (13 points)and junior forward Tiffany Thompson (11 points).
The Spiders (16-12, 10-6 CAA) were paced by junior pointguard Michele Koclanes' 19 points, eightassists and four steals, while sophomore center Ebony Tanner delivered 15 points.
Spurred by Thompson's 10 first half points, Old Dominionowned a 40-35 edge at intermission. The Lady Monarchs led by 11 points ontwo occasions, but the Spiders refused to go away, closing the margin tothree points at 38-35 with under one minute remaining in the opening half. In the firsthalf, Richmond stayed close by winning the battle of the boards, 24-22 andforced 14 Lady Monarch turnovers.
Old Dominion opened the second half with a 10-4 scoringspurt and at the 16:03 mark, owned their biggest lead of the ballgame up tothat point at 52-39. Richmond answered with a 12-0 run over the next 3:20and were within one point (52-51) with 12:43 left in the contest. However, Old Dominion accounted for eightof the game's next ten points to own a 60-53 edge. The Spiders made onelast rally and got it down to 71-65 with 5:01 to go. But that would be asclose as the Spiders would get the rest of the way as Old Dominion went onan 11-6 run and were ahead 82-71 in the closing minute.
Richmond outrebounded Old Dominion, 44-42 for the contestand forced 25 Lady Monarch turnovers. However, Old Dominion was aggressivegoing to the basket all night, attempting 49 free throws, compared toRichmond's 29 attempts.