Jan. 11, 2004
NEWARK, DE -- Paced by Max Nhassengo's (Maputo, Mozambique) season-high 20 points and Monique Coker's (Bronx, NY) seventh double-double effort of the season (10 points, 12 rebounds), the Old Dominion women's basketball team earned a 67-56 victory over the University of Delaware Fightin' Blue Hens on Sunday night at the Bob Carpenter Center. The victory improves the Lady Monarchs to 8-5 overall and 3-0 in the CAA standings, while Delaware, drops its second straight contest after opening the season 9-1 to fall to 9-3 and 1-2 in league play.
The Fightin' Blue Hens got down big early as Old Dominion jumped out to a 15-2 lead in the opening 10 minutes and held off the Blue Hens the rest of the way in a rematch of last season's CAA Championship finale. The Lady Monarchs also managed to avenge a 58-50 setback to Delaware last Feb. 14 at the Bob Carpenter Center.
In all, four Lady Monarchs reached double digits as senior Myriah Spence (Espanola, NM) added 13 points, including three three-pointers, sophomore Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, FL) added 11 points and five assists. Coker also chipped in a game-high 12 rebounds.
Guard Julie Sailer led the Hens with 16 points while Tiara Malcom added 12 points and seven rebounds, Tyresa Smith came off the bench to add 12 points, and Tiffany Young added 11 points and eight rebounds. The Hens, who tied Old Dominion for the CAA regular season title a year ago, has lost consecutive conference games for the first time since the 2001-02 season.
Old Dominion, which owns victories over nationally-ranked Penn State and North Carolina this season, overcame 27 turnovers to post the win. The Lady Monarchs shot 60 percent from the field in the second half (12 of 20) and 51.9 percent for the game (27 of 52). Old Dominion managed to capitalize on 23 Delaware turnovers which resultsed in 23 Lady Monarch points. The Fightin' Blue Hens did managed to win the war on the boards, outrebounding Old Dominion 40-33.
The Monarchs took control early, outscoring Delaware 15-2 in the first nine minutes of the game and would lead by as many as 19 in the first half. The Blue Hens connected on their first field goal attempt, but proceeded to miss their next eight shots and commit seven turnovers during the stretch before Sailer broke the drought on a layup with 10:23 remaining. The Hens later cut the lead to eight points at 22-14, but Old Dominion built back the lead and took a 37-20 advantage into halftime.
Old Dominion held a double-digit lead for the entire second half, going up by as much as 21 points at 58-37 on a layup by Nhassengo with 10:07 remaining. The Hens outscored the Monarchs 19-9 the rest of the way, cutting the lead to 10 at 65-55 on two Sailer free throws with 28 second left.
The victory ended a four-game road trip for the Lady Monarchs, who finished 2-2 on the swing with conference wins over James Madison and Delaware. Old Dominion returns home briefly, taking on an improved Towson Tiger program on Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center, before hitting the road again, traveling to Hofstra on Sunday.