Dec. 3, 2005
Old Dominion vs. Vanderbilt Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game: Old Dominion vs. #19/20 Vanderbilt - Ted Constant Convocation Center - 2:00 p.m.
Livestats: Livestats available at www.odusports.com or by clicking here.
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: It was a well balanced scoring attack which led the Old Dominion women's basketball team to its first win of the 2005-06 season with a 93-61 victory over Penn State. Four Lady Monarchs reached double digits highlighted by a 20-point second-half scoring barrage by leading scorer T.J. Jordan. The Lady Monarchs' 32-point win over the Lady Lions was not only ODU's largest margin of victory over Penn State (1-3) in the 10 games played between the two teams, but also the largest margin over a team from the BIG 10. After being held scoreless in the first half, sophomore T.J. Jordan once again came off the bench to lead her squad in scoring, becoming the first Lady Monarch to reach the 20-point mark this season. All six of Jordan's field goals came from three-point land and she added in four more points as she went a perfect 2-of-2 from the charity stripe. Jordan was joined by three others in double figures, juniors Tish Lyons and Sherida Triggs with 16, and senior Lawona Davis with 17. Although the Lady Monarchs have only played in three games thus far, Old Dominion had its best shooting percentages from the floor, three-point range, and the free throw line. Old Dominion connected on 33-of-63 from the floor to finished shooting 48.6 percent for the night, 17-of-20 for 85 percent from the stripe, and 10-of-15 from downtown for 66.7 percent. Four Lady Monarchs went perfect from the line which included 4-for-4 performances by Triggs and junior Shantel Wilson Additionally it wasn't only Jordan with the hot hand from three as Lyons, sophomore Jen Nuzzo and junior Paula Muxiri all had their turns from beyond the arc.
About Vanderbilt:Vanderbilt enters the Ted Constant Convocation Center with a 5-2 mark and coming off a loss at N.C. State, 67-76. The Commodores opened the season at Arizona State with a 60-69 loss, but rebounded by rattling of five straight wins. Of the seven games Vanderbilt has played so far, the Commodores have limited three of those opponents to under 40 points. Alabama A&M fell, 80-29, Charleston Southern lost, 83-39, and Colgate dropped a 72-33 decision. Caroline Williams, a 5-10 junior guard, leads the Commodores averaging 14.3 points along with 2.6 rebounds per game. Carla Thomas, a 6-3 junior forward, is pouring 13.0 points per game along with a team-leading 6.0 rebounds per game. Rounding out the Vanderbilt double-digit scorers is 6-4 transfer from Connecticut, center Liz Sherwood with 12.9 points and 4.6 boards per contest. Vanderbilt is ranked #19 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll and #20 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll.
The Series:Old Dominion leads the all-time series 3-0 with all three meetings coming in tournaments during the regular season. The Lady Monarchs won with a 96-72 victory at the Optimist Classic at the Fieldhouse in 1984, picked up an 85-76 victory at the Reebok Roundball Classic in 1988, also at the Fieldhouse, and took home a 70-59 neutral floor win, 70-59, at the Central Fidelity Classic in Richmond in 1996.
A Little Local Flavor:Cherish Stringfield might be a familiar name to some fans. Stringfield, a 5-7 guard, is a product of Sussex Central High School in Southhampton county. While at Sussex Central, Stringfield was as a member of the 2003 McDonald's All-American Dream 100 and 2003 Tri-City Player of the Year. She was selected four times a First Team All Tri-Rivers District and First Team All Region A, was a three-time Tri-Rivers District Player of the Year, two-time Region A Most Valuable Player, Region A Player of the Year and two-time First Team All-State selection. As a senior she averaged 21.6 points, 6.0 rebounds and 5.0 assists. Stringfield will seem many familiar faces on the court as well having played AAU ball with Hampton Roads natives Tiffany Green, Tish Lyons, T.J. Jordan, and Jen Nuzzo.
Vandy At The Ted:Although it will be the first meeting between these two teams at the Constant Center, it is not the only time the Commodores have been to the building. In 2003, Vanderbilt reached the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament defeating Liberty in the "Sweet 16" before falling to Boston College at the Mideast Regional final held at the Constant Center. Erica Grimaldi and Nicole Jules, now Commodore seniors, were members of that "Elite Eight" squad, but did not see any action during those two NCAA Tournament games.
T.J. For Threeeeeeee:Sophomore three-point specialist T.J. Jordan set a new Constant Center record against Penn State for three-pointers made in a game as she sunk six from beyond the arc. The old record was held by Myriah Spence against North Carolina on December 7th, 2003.
More From Threeeeee:Not only did T.J. Jordan have the hot hand from three-point land, but so did her teammates. The Lady Monarchs shot 66.7 percent from downtown for their best performance from beyond the arc since shooting the same percentage against Hofstra (105-62) at home on February 12th, 2004. Against Penn State Jen Nuzzo went 2-of-3, while juniors Tish Lyons and Paula Muxiri, who are not typically known for raining three's, also got into the mix.
On Your Mark:Although the Lady Monarchs have only played in three games thus far, Old Dominion had its best shooting percentages from the floor, three-point range, and the free throw line against Penn State on Tuesday night. Old Dominion connected on 33-of-63 from the floor to finished shooting 48.6 percent for the night, 17-of-20 for 85 percent from the stripe, and 10-of-15 from downtown for 66.7 percent.
I Wanna Be Like Mike:T.J. Jordan has come off the Lady Monarch bench to lead the team in scoring in the first three games of the season. Against #1/2 Duke, the sophomore guard tallied 17 points shooting 7-of-8 from the field and playing a game-high 30 minutes. She followed by shooting both 50 percent from the field and three-point land in Tuesday's loss at Virginia Tech. Collecting a game-high 18 points she shot 6- of-12 from the floor and 4-of-8 from beyond the arc. In the third game of the season, she was held scoreless in the first half against Penn State, but then rallied for 20 points in the second half going 6-of-9 from three-point land. She leads the team in scoring at a 17.5 ppg clip and is shooting 37.5 from three-point range.