Box Score
KNOXVILLE, TN- With Old Dominion leading by five midway in thesecond half second ranked Tennessee went on a 32-15 run to hold off the LadyMonarchs upset bid, 74-62. 25th ranked ODU is now 7-5, while the Lady Volsare 12-1.
Tennessee led by as many as 11 in the first half, but Old Dominion ralliedas Okiesha Howard (Va. Beach, Va.) scored ten points and the Lady Monarchbench contributed 14 to cut Tennessee's lead to three, 37-34 at halftime.
In the second half, Hamchetou Maiga (Bamako, Mali) tied the game at42 with 13:56 left. ODU then took the lead, 45-42 on a three-pointer by OkieshaHoward. Sharron Francis then scored to put the Lady Monarchs up five, 47-42 with 12:47 left in the game.
Tennessee rallied as Tasha Butts hit two free throws to tie the game at50 with 9:21 left. Butts then put the Lady Vols up for good, 53-52 with 8 minutesremaining. The Lady Monarchs would not go down quietly as sophomore MyriahSpence (Espanola, NM.) hit a trey to cut the lead to two, 58-56 with 5:32 left, butTennessee would then outscore the Lady Monarchs 16-6 to hold on for the win as bothODU standouts Lucienne Berthieu (Rennes, France) and Hamchetou Maiga wouldfoul out in that stretch.
Old Dominion shot .397 from the floor (25-63), committed 16 turnovers, whilethe Lady Vols shot .412 from the floor, committed 22 turnovers, but won the battleof the boards, 46-27 and outshot ODU from the free throw line with 29 of 36 for80 percent. The Lady Monarchs took only 14 shots, hitting nine for .643.
Okiesha Howard led the Lady Monarchs with 15 points and Maiga added ten.Tennessee was led by Michelle Snow with 19 points and nine rebounds, while TashaButts came off the bench to scored 16 and haul in seven boards.
Old Dominion returns to action on Friday night at Delaware for a 7 p.m.contest in Newark, DE..