Dec. 15, 2005
Old Dominion vs. Charlotte Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game: Old Dominion at Charlotte - Halton Arena - 1:00 p.m.
Livestats: Livestats available at REPLACE_ME or www.charlotte49ers.com.
Television: Sunday's game in Charlotte will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic (Hampton Roads - Ch. 35) and WTVI (Charlotte).
Radio: ESPN Radio - 1310 AM - Join 13-time Sportscaster of the Year as Tony Mercurio calls all the action live. He will be joined by ODU Hall of Famer and former Lady Monarch Jan Trombly on color during all home games.
Internet: Live audio of the ESPN 1310 broadcast is available via the Monarch All-Access pass at REPLACE_ME.
About Old Dominion: The Lady Monarchs are off to a 1-4 start on the season, however when looking at their record, all four Old Dominion losses have come at the hands of teams either ranked or receiving votes in one of the two major polls. Not to mention two of those teams are among the nation's top six. In their last outing, the Lady Monarchs dropped a 41-77 decision to #6/7 Rutgers at the Louis Brown Athletic Center in New Jersey. The Lady Monarchs were led in scoring both junior Tish Lyons and senior Lawona Davis with 10 points apiece. Junior Sherida Triggs had a team-high 11 rebounds in the loss. The Scarlet Knights and the Lady Monarchs exchanged baskets for the first few minutes of the game. However, from the 13:33 mark until the 5:12 mark, Rutgers went on a 22-4 run that was fueled by six ODU turnovers, resulting in 10 Scarlet Knight points. Rutgers stretched its first half lead to as many as 22 points and went into the break up 40-18. Rutgers held Old Dominion to two field goals in the final 14 minutes of the first half. Old Dominion was outscored 37-23 in the second half for the final margin. A Paula Muxiri lay-up with 17:49 left put the score at 42-26 and got Old Dominion as close as 16 points.
About Charlotte: The 49ers are off to a 5-3 start under first year head coach Amanda Butler and enter Sunday's contest on a three-game win streak. Among the wins has been a 74-54 win over fellow ODU CAA opponent, UNC-Wilmington. Other victories have included Appalachian State, Loyola Marymount, Winthrop, and Davidson, while the 49ers dropped contests to Western Kentucky, UCLA, and Florida. Charlotte returns nine letterwinners and four starters from last year's 22-9 squad, which advanced to the post-season for the third consecutive year. The 49ers qualified for the WNIT Tournament, falling to Wake Forest in the first round. Charlotte, formerly of Conference USA, is in its inaugural season in the Atlantic-10 along with St. Louis.
Series With Charlotte: The Lady Monarchs hold a 6-2 edge in the all-time series with the 49ers. Old Dominion won the first five meetings in the series, before dropping games during the 1989/90 and 1990/91 seasons. The Lady Monarchs put a halt to the losing streak however two seasons ago when they earned a 75-61 victory at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in their last meeting.
Last Time Vs. Charlotte: The Old Dominion women's basketball team defeated Charlotte, 75-61, back on November 30th, 2003 as former Lady Monarch Monique Coker became the 23rd Lady Monarch to eclipse the 1,000 career point mark. Coker earned her third double-double of that season with 14 points and hauling in 12 rebounds, along with swatting away a career-high seven blocks. ODU had three additional double-figure scorers for the game, led by Myriah Spence's 13, Max Nhassengo's 12 and Shareese Grant's 11. Charlotte's Sakellie Daniels led her team with 14 points, while Andrea Davidson came off the bench to score 13 points and Monica League netted 10. ODU jumped to a quick 8-0 lead in the first 2:27 of the first half, capped off by a Coker lay-up which gave her the milestone career mark. However, Charlotte answered back with seven straight points of their own to make it a one-point game, 8-7 at the 16:27 mark. A 17-4 Lady Monarch run gave ODU a 14-point edge, 25-11, with 10:26 remaining in the half. Once again, the 49ers had an answer, coming up with a 14-2 run to cut the Lady Monarch lead to just two points, 27-25, with 6:01 remaining in the first half. ODU then rattled off five straight points to extend their lead to seven points, 32-25, with 3:20 left in the half. Charlotte cut the lead to three points, 36-33, with 1:46 remaining in the half before ODU scored four straight points to take a 40-33 lead going into halftime. The 49ers scored the first five points of the second half to cut the Lady Monarch lead to just two points, 40-38, at the 18:19 mark and tied the game for the first time at 44-44 with 16:10 left in the game. Charlotte scored four more points to take a 48-44 lead at the 15:05 mark, their first lead of the game. ODU tied the game again at 48-48, 50-50 and for the final time at 52-52 with 10:43 remaining. Trailing 52-50, the Lady Monarchs went on a 14-0 run to grab a 64-52 edge with 6:04 left in the half and led by no less than seven points for the remainder of the game. Up 64-57, ODU used an 11-4 run to take the 75-11 victory, to take home their second home victory this season. The Lady Monarchs shot 27 of 60 (45%) from the field, while the 49ers shot 24 of 71 (33.8%). While both teams had 20 turnovers and grabbed 42 rebounds, ODU recorded a season-high 10 blocks.
On The Road Again: The Lady Monarchs will not see game action inside the friendly confines of the Ted Constant Convocation Center until December 29th when North Carolina comes to town. Old Dominion's road trip began last Friday night against Rutgers and will follow with road trips to Charlotte (North Carolina) and Florida International (Miami) leaving a total of 25 days without a game at home. Old Dominion's last game at home was a 72-88 setback at the hands of #19/20 Vanderbilt.
The Home Team: The Ted Constant Convocation Center has proven to be a tough place to play for opponents since the doors opened for the 2002-03 season. The Lady Monarchs have enjoyed a 44-8 record for an 84.6 winning percentage. Among ODU's eight losses at home, four have been to ranked opponents, with three of those against Top Ten teams. The Charlotte 49ers' home court advantage with head coach Amanda Bulter is equally as strong. Butler, who begins her first season at the helm of the Charlotte program but has also spent time as an assistant (2001-2005), holds a 44-9 record at Halton Arena. The 49ers are 3-1 at home this season with the lone setback to Florida.
We're Number One...In Strength Of Schedule: The Old Dominion Lady Monarch women's basketball team fielded a #39 ranking and tops the nation in strength of schedule it was announced on Monday evening in Collegiate Basketball News' first women's RPI report. The Lady Monarchs' schedule contains four Top 10 teams (Tennessee, Duke, Rutgers, & North Carolina), seven NCAA squads from the 2004-05 season along with two WNIT participants (Charlotte, Delaware). As a whole, the CAA is ranked eighth in women's basketball as a conference through games of Dec. 11. Including Old Dominion, seven women's teams are ranked among the top 100 in the RPI including James Madison at #48, Towson at #65, UNC Wilmington at #78, Delaware at #81, George Mason at #86 and VCU at #91. Taking a look at some of ODU's non-conference opponents, Tennessee is #3, North Carolina is #6, Duke is #13, Virginia Tech is #14, Rutgers is #16, Penn State is #66, and Charlotte is #124.