Feb. 17, 2002
NORFOLK, VA -- The #19 Lady Monarchs continued its CAA dominance with a 67-43 victory over James Madison to sweep the season series. Old Dominion, who improves to 19-5 overall and 15-0 in conference play, clinched the top seed in the upcoming CAA Women's Basketball Tournament The Dukes fall to 15-9 and 9-6 in the Colonial.
The Dukes used a new starting line-up, sitting regular starters Jess Chichowicz, Nadine Morgan, Allyson Keener, and Shanna Price for the first four minutes of the game. Center Hollee Franklin sat out the game with an injury. The new line-up however did not deter the Lady Monarchs as they quickly raced out to an 11-0 lead. By half, Old Dominion was up by 17 points, 30-13.
The Lady Monarchs continued to dominate in the second half, extending thier lead by as much as 28 in the final moments. Two free throws by Morgan brought the Dukes within 17 with 5:09 remaining, but that would be as close as James Madison would get.
At the 14:58 mark of the second stanza, senior Sharron Francis (West Lanham Hills, MD) nailed a three pointer from the left side of the arc to become the 21st Lady Monarch to net over 1,000 career points. She finished the game with six points, seven assists, and four steals.
Senior Lucienne Berthieu (Rennes, France) led all scorers with 20 points. She was a perfect 10-of-10 from the field and collected eight rebounds as well. Fellow classmate Tiffany Thompson (Clinton, MD) was the third Lady Monarch in double figures with 11 and was 3-for-3 from downtown.
Shanna Price led the Dukes with 14 points on the afternoon. Nadine Morgan added 10 for James Madison in the loss.
Old Dominion shot a blistering 52 percent from the field, while the stingy Lady Monarch defense held its opponent to just 29 percent. Old Dominion also outrebounded the Dukes 38-27.
The Lady Monarchs season is coming to a close as three regular season games remain on the slate. Old Dominion embarks on a two-game road trip this week, traveling to two new gyms. The Lady Monarchs face Hofstra on Friday, Feb. 22 and Drexel on Sunday, Feb. 24. Old Dominion returns home on March 1 to say "Farewell to the Fieldhouse" in its regular season finale against William and Mary.