Feb. 21, 2003
NORFOLK, VA - The Old Dominion women's basketball team coasted to a 71-57 victory over Drexel University Friday night in a Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) contest at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Lady Monarchs took a quick 9-2 lead just three minutes into the game and never trailed as ODU improved their record against Drexel to 4-0. They are now 10-3 in the conference with a 13-10 overall mark. The Dragons fall to 6-9 in the CAA and 10-14 on the season.
The visitors brought the score to within four, 20-16, halfway through the first period after a three pointer by Candace Wilkins. However, Old Dominion closed out the first 20 minutes with a 20-9 run to go up 40-25 at the break. ODU shot a blistering 71 percent (17-of-24) from the floor in the first half while holding Drexel to 27 percent (9-of-34) shooting.
In the second period the Lady Monarchs built their lead to 22 with a lay-up by Max Nhassengo (Maputo, Mozambique) at 15:25. The Dragons bounced back and were able to come within as much as 11 on several occasion but could come no closer.
Senior guard Okeisha Howard (Va. Beach, VA) recorded her first career double-double with a career-high 11 assists and 22 points. The 11 assists were the most by an Old Dominion player this season. It was also Howard fourth 20+ point scoring effort of the season.
Sophomore guard Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, VA) added 12 points while senior forward Kim Giddens (Painter, VA) pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds and junior forward Myriah Spence (Espanola, NM) poured in 10 points.
Junior Ola Snytsina paced Drexel with 11 points, one shy of her season high. Rookie guard Catherine Scanlon just missed a double-double totaling 10 points and a team-high nine boards. Six of her 10 points came at the line as she shot just 2-for-10 from the field. Senior guard Bridget Scanlan, who had reached double figures in the last four outings, was held to just three points by the Lady Monarch defense, going 1-for-6 from the floor.
The Lady Monarchs are home again on Sunday to host George Mason at 2:00 p.m. ODU defeated the Patriots 73-69 on the road in Fairfax, VA in early January.