Dec. 20, 2001
DENVER, CO. - The University of Denver Pioneers jumped out to a 5-0 lead early in the game, but junior guard Okiesha Howard (Va. Beach, Va.) hit two treys and the Lady Monarchs, ranked 25th in both polls were on their way to a 91-69 victory. TheLady Monarchs are now 5-3 on the season, while Denver, the Sun Belt Conferenceis now 4-8.
Six Lady Monarchs scored in double figures. Howard finished with 14,sophomore Myriah Spence (Espanola, NM.) led with 18, Hamchetou Maiga (Bamako, Mali) and Monique Coker (Bronx, NY.) each scored 12, LucienneBerthieu (Rennes, France) 11 and Tiffany Thompson (Clinton, MD.) added ten.
The Lady Monarchs led, 46-33 at halftime and led by as much as 22 with8:55 left at 70-48. Every Lady Monarch who played scored. O ld Dominion shot .500 from the floor (31-62), their second best performance of the season. ODU was alsoa blistering 9-14 (.643) from three-point range, led by Spence's 4-6 shooting.
Maiga led the game with nine rebounds as ODU outrebounded the Pioneers,40-36. Sharron Francis (W. Lanham Hills, MD.) and Howard each dished out fiveassists, while Miaga and Thompson each came up with three steals.
Denver was led by Ashley Atkinson with 26 points. She hit six of 11 three-pointers.
Old Dominion returns to action after Christmas when they host top rankedUCONN on Jan. 29 at 2 p.m.