Dec. 5, 2004
NORFOLK, Va. - Senior guard Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, Va.) set a school record with 17 made free throws as the Lady Monarchs denied Rutgers' head coach C. Vivian Stringer her 700th career win by downing the #16 (AP)/#19 (ESPN/USA Today/WBCA) Scarlet Knights, 69-61, Sunday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Rutgers, who is only one of four teams to defeat the Lady Monarchs at home, became the third ranked team to fall at the Constant Center since the building opened for the 2002-03 season. Last season, Old Dominion had upset victories over #7 Penn State (75-68) and #12/13 North Carolina (73-68).
The Scarlet Knights record their first loss of the 2004-05 season, falling to 4-1 on the year. The Lady Monarchs, winners of their last 20 home games, improved to 3-1 overall.
Grant led all scorers with 21 points but shot just 2-of-12 from the field. Seventeen of her points came from the free throw line setting a new school record. Nancy Lieberman held the previous record, sinking 15 back on January 10, 1978 against Pittsburgh.
"That was my focus," said Grant of hitting her free throws. "To win the game, you've got to knock those down."
Sophomore Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) poured in 14 points, connecting on a perfect 10-of-10 from the line, while T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) recorded 17 points from off the bench, which included a 4-of-9 effort from three-point range.
The Scarlet Knight had four in double figures led by 13 points from senior guard Nikki Jet. Michelle Campbell had 12 points, while both Mariota Theodoirs and Essence Carson registered 10.
Neither team enjoyed more than a three-point lead in the early part of the first half. Leading by one, 18-17, with 6:20 remaining in the first half, Old Dominion rattled off eight unanswered points over the next two minutes to control the latter part of the half. Old Dominion held a 30-24 advantage at the intermission.
The Scarlet Knights reclaimed the lead for the first time since the early minutes of the game midway through the second half. A lay-up by Campbell brought Rutgers to within one with 10:44 remaining and moments later Jett hit two free throws to put the Scarlet Knights ahead, 44-43.
Grant sunk one of her free throws to tie the game at 44-44 with 10:19 on the clock and even though the game would be tied up two more times after that point, the Lady Monarchs would never trail again.
Although the Lady Monarchs led by seven points with just over five minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights came back, pulling to within two, 54-52, with 3:30 remaining. A Jordan three sparked a Lady Monarchs 7-0 run and Old Dominion connected 12-of-14 from the line the rest of the way to keep the game out of reach for Rutgers.
Rutgers head coach, C. Vivian Stringer, the only coach in history to bring three different teams to a Final Four, was denied her 700th career victory in the loss. Currently sporting a 699-239 overall record, she will attempt to become the fourth coach in women's basketball history to record 700 wins when the Scarlet Knights take on Princeton at home on December 8th.
Meanwhile, the Lady Monarchs hit the road for their next two games. Old Dominion travels to Virginia on Friday, December 10th with tip-off at 7:00 p.m. The Lady Monarchs will be looking to avenge a 55-63 loss from their first ever game at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.