Feb. 9, 2003
HARRISONBURG, VA -- James Madison (7-4, 12-8) rallied from 13 points down with 3:28 left to defeat Old Dominion (8-2, 11-9) 98-95 in overtime in Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball Sunday afternoon at the JMU Convocation Center. The loss marked the first time since the 1991-92 season that the Lady Monarchs dropped consecutive CAA match-ups.
Senior forward Shanna Price scored a career-high 34 points, including the tying basket with 7.6 seconds left in regulation. She tallied six of the Dukes' points in overtime, when JMU outscored the Monarchs 13-10 for the win.
Five Lady Monarchs landed in double digits with senior point guard Okeisha Howard (Va. Beach, VA) tying her career-high with 28 points. Sophomore Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, VA) added 18, while junior Max Nhassengo (Maputo, Mozambique) came off the bench for 16 points. Redshirt freshman Corrina Turner (Miami, FL) scored 12 points and junior Monique Coker nearly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine boards.
It was JMU's 10th consecutive home win and the second straight conference loss for Old Dominion, which suffered a 67-56 defeat at Virginia Commonwealth on February 6th. The loss marked just the ninth CAA loss for the Lady Monarchs.
With ODU ahead 78-65, sophomore forward Lynn Liburd nailed back-to-back three-pointers at 3:12 and 2:45, then senior guard Jess Cichowicz stole the ball and fed Liburd for a layup at 2:04. Liburd's eight points began a 20-7 JMU scoring run that included seven points by Price and five by Cichowicz.
ODU led 85-77 after a three-point play by senior guard Howard with 1:07 remaining in regulation. Cichowicz's three-point play at 1:01 and a three-point play by Price at 0:50 cut the margin to 85-83. After Coker missed two foul shots with 28.6 seconds left, Price hit a six-foot jumper to send the game to overtime tied at 85.
The contest was tied four times in overtime, and after Howard missed two free throws with 1:57 left, senior forward Nadine Morgan hit a layup to push JMU's lead to 95-91. Howard scoredon a short jumper at 1:33, and Price turned the ball over while driving to the basket and trying to dish off to a teammate. Granthit a 10-foot jumper to tie the game at 95 with 1:09 remaining.
Morgan hit the first but missed the second of two foul shots with 52.7 seconds left for a 96-95 JMU lead, and Price got the rebound in a scramble but was called for walking. Grant then missed a 12-foot baseline jumper, but Liburd missed a contested layup with 14 seconds to go. After an ODU timeout at 7.1 seconds, Coker charged to the basket but lost the ball out of bounds with three seconds on the clock. Cichowicz was fouled and connected on both free throws for the final margin.
ODU was up 39-34 at halftime and led by as many as 16 points on three occasions, the last time 72-56 with 5:39 to play in the second period.
"Rebounding the ball is huge, offensive glass is huge. That's what I call hustlepoints, offensive rebounds, loose balls. I think Madison got three loose balls coming off the floor where they scored," said ODU head coach Wendy Larry. "In crucial situations in games like this, we have to come up with those hustle points and we didn't.
"But I am so proud of our basketball team. I thought they played so well here tonight. The unfortunate part is the scoreboard is not in our favor. We made tremendous strides tonight. We played hard together. Our focus was outstanding. It just says to us, 'We're human,' we made some mistakes that we can correct."
The Lady Monarchs will continue on the road next weekend. First taking on the Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens on Friday, February 14 at 7:00 p.m. at the Bob Carpenter Center in Newark, DE. Old Dominion will then close out its four-game road swing against Hofstra in Hempsted, NY on Sunday, February 16 at 1:00 p.m.