March 10, 2002
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team (25-5) will be the seven seed in the MidEast region of this year's NCAA Women's Basketball Tournament, making the trek out to West Lafayette, Indiana. The Lady Monarchs will open play against the 10th seeded Georgia Bulldogs (19-10) on Saturday morning live on ESPN. Should Old Dominion advance, they will face the winner of the #2/#15 game featuring host institution Purdue (23-5) and Austin Peay (19-11).
Old Dominion advanced to the NCAA tournament after capturing the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) title for a NCAA record 11th consecutive time with a 78-63 win over UNC-Wilmington on Saturday night. This year will mark the Lady Monarchs 18th overall appearance in the tournament and will serve as the seventh seed for just the second time in history. Old Dominion also played in the tournament as the number seven seed back in 1993 defeating Tennessee Tech, 77-60, in the opening round before bowing out to Iowa 82-56.
The Lady Monarchs are led by CAA Player of the Year and come back kid senior Lucienne Berthieu (Rennes, France). Berthieu, a three-time conference Player of the Year who missed all of last season due to an ACL injury, currently leads the team with 13.5 points per game along with a 7.1 rebounding average. Additionally she ranks 12th in the nation in field goal percentage.
Junior Okeisha Howard, the CAA Tournament MVP, has returned back to form after suffering a fracture in her leg back in mid-January and checks in as the team's second leading scorer averaging 12.5 ppg. First Team All-CAA selection Hamchetou Maiga is third on the roster in scoring, netting an average of 11.5 points per contest.
The Lady Monarchs have faced Georgia just twice, in 1985 and 1996, and hold a 2-0 record. In fact, Old Dominion faced the Bulldogs in the NCAA Tournament in 1985 defeating Georgia 70-65 for the championship title.