Oct. 28, 2003
NORFOLK, VA -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team took to the court in its annual Blue-White scrimmage as they showed glimpses of what Lady Monarch fans can come to expect in the 2003-04 season.
The Blue Squad edged their White Squad teammates by a score of 73-58, led by senior forward Monique Coker's (Bronx, NY) 29 points and sophomore guard Lawona Davis' (Port St. Lucie, FL) double-double effort of 19 points and 10 rebound.
"Monique did a great job of attacking the basket," added head coach Wendy Larry. "Also Lawona is playing with a lot more confidence than she did last year and is a lot stronger and faster."
The Blue Team also featured redshirt freshman Shantel Wilson (Washington, D.C) who will be looked upon this season to lead the Lady Monarchs at the point guard role. Wilson handed out a game-high nine assists to go along with eight points and seven rebounds.
Newcomers Tish Lyons (Newport News, VA) and Sherida Triggs (Norcross, GA) also made their anxiously awaited Lady Monarch debuts. Lyons netted seven points, while Triggs just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight boards.
Also playing for the Blue Team was walk-on Melea Caldwell (Hendersonville, NC). Caldwell, who was with the Lady Monarchs last season as a manager, came off the bench to collect two assists and two steals.
The White Squad was led by senior guard Max Nhassengo's (Maputo, Mozambique) 23-point game. Nhassengo shot 11-of-20 from the floor, added four steals, and collected six rebounds.
"I though Max played hard tonight," added Larry. "She did tremendous things out there and she should have a tremendous year."
Fellow senior guard Myriah Spence (Espanola, NM) added in 12 points as the other White Squad member in double figures.
Junior forward Paula Muxiri (Luanda, Angola), who will be an academic redshirt in 2003-04, contributed four points, while senior center Cassie Calwell (Raleigh, NC) tossed in six points, collected three rebounds, and swatted away four Blue Team shots.
Fan favorite, senior guard Marianthi Koukouvinou (Stockholm, Sweden) scored seven points and dished out four assists and newcomer Angela Brown (Albany, KY) also made her long awaited Lady Monarch debut, scoring six points and hauling in five rebounds in coming off the bench for the White Team.
The Blue-White game was one of three exhibition match-ups for the Lady Monarchs in the preseason. Old Dominion hosts Basketball Travelers on Tuesday, November 4th and Team Concept on Tuesday, November 11th before opening up the 2003-04 regular season at the WBCA Preseason Classic featuring Colorado, Notre Dame, and Auburn.
LADY MONARCH NOTES: Sophomore center Corrina Turner (Miami, FL) and junior guard Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, VA) both sat out tonight's Blue-White Game. Grant suffered a shoulder injury last week in practice, but should be back to the court for the other Lady Monarch exhibitions. Turner suffered an injury to her left knee in Monday afternoon's practice at the Ted Constant Center. Turner, who has suffered two torn anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) tears in her right knee in her first two years with the Lady Monarchs, will be evaluated in the coming days to identify the extent of her injury.