Feb. 1, 2004
Box Score|QuotesNORFOLK, VA -- The Lady Monarch bench netted a season-high 32 points fueled by a season-high 18 points from freshman Sherida Triggs (Norcross, GA) as the Old Dominion women's basketball team took sole possession of first place in the CAA with a 81-51 victory over visiting Drexel.
The Lady Monarchs, winners of a season-high four straight wins, improve to 13-6 overall and 8-1 in the CAA. With Hofstra losing to George Mason in action earlier Sunday, Old Dominion takes over first place in the CAA standings. The Dragons fall to 7-11 overall and 4-5 in league play.
Old Dominion controlled the tempo of the game from the start as the Lady Monarchs opened the first five minutes of play with a 16-6 lead. That lead would grow to a 28-point advantage at the intermission, as the Lady Monarchs led 44-16 at halftime. Triggs ended the half with 10 points, connecting on 5-of-5 from the field.
The Lady Monarchs led by as many as 42 in the second half. A 16-4 run by Old Dominion opened the second stanza with the Lady Monarchs taking a controlling 62-20 lead with 12:41 remaining. With Old Dominion controlling the lead, a majority of the Lady Monarch bench saw significant minutes, which results in six points from reserves senior Marianthi Koukouvinou (Stockholm, Sweden) and freshman Tish Lyons (Newport News, VA).
The Dragons were only able to pull within 28 late in the game before Lyons pushed the score to its final margin, a 30-point 81-51 ODU victory.
Triggs led all scorers with her 18 points in 25 minutes of action off the bench. The Norcross, GA native also added in seven boards. Senior Max Nhassengo (Maputo, Mozamibique) became the only other Lady Monarch other than Monique Coker to notch a double-double this season. Nhassengo added 16 points and 10 rebounds along with a career-tying six steals. Coker added 12 points in the victory and went a perfect 6-of-6 from the charity stripe for the second straight game. Sophomore Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, FL) rounded out the double digit Lady Monarch scorers with 12 points while also dishing out a career-tying five assists.
Drexel had two in double digits led by forward Katrina Martin with 16 points including a 6-of-6 performance from the free throw line. Catherine Scanlon, the 2003 CAA Rookie of the Year, recorded 10 points.
Old Dominion continued its hot shooting hitting 48.5 percent from the floor, while holding the Dragons to 31.5 percent from the field. However, Drexel was near perfect from the free throw line hitting 13 of their 14 attempts. Old Dominion also outrebounded Drexel, 47-32.
The Lady Monarchs will hit the road of their next two games. Old Dominion takes on Towson on Thursday before traveling up to Philadelphia to meet the Dragons again on Sunday.