Dec. 20, 2005
Old Dominion at Florida International Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game: Old Dominion at Florida International - Pharmed Arena - 2:00 p.m.
Livestats: No livestats are available.
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 www.odusports.com.
About Old Dominion: The Lady Monarchs collected their first road win of the 2005-06 season on Sunday when they defeated Charlotte, 79-69, at Halton Arena. Junior Tish Lyons paced the Lady Monarchs by tying her season-high 16 points to lead four of her teammates in double figures. She shot a perfect 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Both sophomore T.J Jordan and senior Lawona Davis poured in 14 points apiece. Jordan, who saw some time at the point due to injury to Jen Nuzzo, saw all 14 of her points come in the second half. Junior Sherida Triggs added in 13. The win put the Lady Monarchs back into the win column after suffering losses to #19/20 Vanderbilt and #6/7 Rutgers. Old Dominion enters Wednesday's game with the Panthers 2-4 overall with all four losses coming at the hands of teams either ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes in national polls.
About Florida International: Florida International enters Wednesday's game with a 4-4 overall mark. The Panthers opened up the 2005-06 season with four straight wins, but have dropped their last four contests, including an eight-point loss at Kansas, 65-73, on Sunday. All three top scorers for Florida International are averaging over 30 minutes per contest. Lasma Jekabsone leads the way for the Panthers averaging 13.1 points and 9.8 rebounds, followed by Faeza Bouderra at 11.8 point and 5.6 rebounds. Eva Makela is pouring in 11.6 points and grabbing 3.4 boards per game. Makela collected 11 points in 26 minutes in the last meeting between these two teams.
Opponent Alumni: A pair of ODU alumni patrol the sidelines for Florida International. Head coach Cindy Russo was among the first women to receive grant-in-aid at Old Dominion in the early seventies and is currently in her 27th season as the head coach of the Panthers. Associate head coach Inge Nissen helped the Lady Monarchs to two national championship (1979 & 1980) and has had her #42 jersey retired.
Series WIth Florida International: Old Dominion trails 1-2 in the all-time series with the Panthers. Florida International won the first two meetings with a 71-67 victory at the Church's Classic on December 28th, 1992 and a 81-76 first round victory at the 1995 NCAA Tournament. The Lady Monarchs earned their lone win in the series two seasons ago at the Ted Constant Convocation Center with a 77-66 victory back on December 15, 2003.
Last Time Vs. Florida International: Monique Coker's double-double of 17 points and a season-high 17 rebounds helped the Old Dominion women's basketball team defeat the Florida International Golden Panthers, 77-66, at the Ted Constant Convocation Center back on December 15th, 2003. Prior to the game Florida International was the only opponent the Lady Monarchs had faced at least two times and not beaten. Florida International jumped to a 9-2 lead early in the game but it would be the Golden Panthers' largest lead of the half. The Lady Monarchs bounced back to take their first lead of the game, 18-17, by the 9:04 mark of the half. Florida International re-took the lead off two Milena Tomova free throws and held a five-point lead, 25-20, by the 5:21 mark. The Lady Monarchs answered, however, with a 6-0 run to once again take the lead, 26-25, with just over three minutes left in the half. ODU held a narrow 28-27 advantage with 1:31 left in the half before the Golden Panthers' Deniz Boz connected on a jumper to give Florida International a slight 29-28 lead going into the half. ODU started the second half with a 5-0 run to take a 34-29 lead just over two minutes into the half. The Golden Panthers, however, came up with a 16-4 run of their own to take a 45-40 lead with 12:07 left in the game. Trailing 50-44 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the second half, the Lady Monarchs came up with a 7-0 run to grab a 51-50 lead with nine minutes left in the game. A Mistoria Brown free throw for Florida International tied the game at 51, but the Golden Panthers were unable to get any closer than one point to ODU for the rest of the game. ODU held a 74-63 lead with 50 seconds remaining in the game for their largest lead of the night. Shareese Grant led Monarch scorers with 19 points, followed by Monique Coker's double-double, her fifth of the season. Max Nhassengo also added in 16 points. Florida International's Milena Tomova led all scorers with 22 points. Ivelina Vrancheva, with 14 points, and Eva Makela, with 11 points, were also double-figure scorers for the Golden Panthers. For the game, ODU shot 46.8% (29 of 62) from the field, compared to Florida International's 47.3% (26 of 55). The Lady Monarchs held a commanding 43-26 rebounding margin during the game and committed only 13 turnovers.
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. Wednesday's game in Miami marks the final of three-game road swing which also took the Lady Monarchs to New Jersey (Rutgers) and North Carolina (Charlotte) 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.
Hear Me Roar: Junior Tish Lyons tied her season-high in points as well as several other season marks in Sunday's 79-69 victory over Charlotte. Lyons, who went a perfect 6-for-6 at the line collected new free throw made and attempt marks for the season and also tied her season high with six rebounds. Additionally, Lyons tied several career marks with four assists, four steals and 34 minutes.
Welcome Back Greedy: Sophomore Shahida Williams was declared active for Sunday's game at Charlotte. The second-year Lady Monarch who missed the first five games of the season make her season debut with six points, seven rebounds, and a team-leading three steals in 14 minutes.
Jordan Gets The Point: With sophomore point guard Jen Nuzzo out for 8-10 weeks with a stress fracture in her right leg, fellow classmate T.J. Jordan might see some time at the point. Jordan, who saw some time at the point as a back-up to starter Jazzmin Walters on Sunday, ignited for 14 points in the second half of Sunday's 79-69 victory at Charlotte. It was the second time this season Jordan has been held scoreless in the first half of action only to explode in half number two. Jordan tallied 20 second half points in ODU's 32-point victory over Penn State.
Big On The Boards: Old Dominion outrebounded Charlotte on Sunday, 53-35, with the Lady Monarchs' defensive rebounding effort equaling the 49ers total number of boards.
Up Next: The Lady Monarchs take a holiday break and return home for the first time since they took on #19/20 Vanderbilt on December 4th. Old Dominion will welcome its fourth ranked opponent and third from the top ten as North Carolina comes into the Ted Constant Convocation Center on December 29th at 7:00 p.m. Last week, the Tar Heels were ranked sixth in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.