Jan. 27, 2005
NORFOLK, Va. -- Point guards Jen Nuzzo (Newport News, Va.) and Melea Caldwell (Hendersonville, N.C.) combined for 20 points and junior Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) nearly missed a double-double with a team-high 16 points and nine rebounds as the Old Dominion women's basketball team (10-6, 6-1 CAA) defeated George Mason (8-9, 4-4 CAA), 68-56, at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Thursday night.
George Mason's benched scored 35 points led by freshman forward Moni Akintunde with a team and career-high 25 points shooting 6-of-12 from the floor and 13-of-19 from the line from off the bench. Her 19 attempts from the charity stripe were one short of the Patriot record set in 1996 by Kristeena Alexander
In all, three Lady Monarchs reached double figures. Led by Davis' 16, Nuzzo reset her previous high with 12, and sophomore Tiffany Green (Chesepeake, Va.) added in 11 points. Caldwell, a senior walk-on, play a career-high 11 minutes at the point going 3-of-4 from the field, including 2-of-2 from beyond the arc for eight points.
Old Dominion, who has won all 35 meeting with George Mason, led the entire game from start to finish. The Patriots were held without a field goal the final 9:04 of the first half, but managed to pull within five twice. Akintunde cut the Patriot deficit to 27-22 with 6:09 remaining in the half, but the Lady Monarchs allowed Mason to net just two more points from the line while scoring seven of their own for a 34-24 advantage at the half.
The Lady Monarchs led by double digits the majority of the second half. A lay-up by sophomore Angela Brown (Albany, Ky.) gave Old Dominion its largest lead of the game, a 19-point 51-32 edge with 10:09 left in the game.
Old Dominion, who has controlled the boards in all but one game this season and ranks second in the nation in rebounding margin, continued the trend outboarding the Patriots, 47-37. Mason's Tracy Ann Holness managed to grab a team and game-high 10 boards.
Old Dominion returns to action on Sunday when they travel to UNC-Wilmington for a 2:00 p.m.tip-off.
Injury Update: Senior guard Shareese Grant (Va. Beach, Va.) missed Thursday night's game with a sprained ankle suffered in practice on Tuesday. Grant is listed as day-to-day.