Feb. 8, 2006
Old Dominion at George Mason/vs. Georgia State Game Notes in PDF Format
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Game: Friday: Old Dominion at George Mason - Patriot Center - 7:00 p.m.
Sunday: Old Dominion vs. Georgia State - Ted Constant Convocation Center - 2:00 p.m.
Live Stats: Live stats are available at www.odusports.com and at www.gomason.com for Friday's contest with George Mason
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 and video steam of all home games are available via the Monarch All-Access pass at www.odusports.com.
About Old Dominion: The Old Dominion women's basketball team enters this weekend riding a 10-game win streak with a 12-7 overall and 10-0 CAA mark. The Lady Monarchs travel to George Mason to close out the season series with the Patriots. The game will take place at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, Virginia, also the site for the second straight year of the CAA Women's Basketball Tournament. On Sunday, Old Dominion returns home to host Georgia State. Including Sunday's game with the Lady Panthers, only four more home games are left on the slate. Georgia State and Old Dominion will tip-off for the first time in school history. It will be the first of two meetings with the Panthers as the Lady Monarchs go to Atlanta for the 2005-06 regular season finale.
Recapping Last Week: The Old Dominion women's basketball team improved its win streak to 10 straight as they earned home wins over Drexel and Northeastern last week. Against the Dragons, the Lady Monarchs swept the season series with a 76-49 victory as a four-point half time deficit turned into a 27-point win. It was a tale of two halves as Drexel had a 33-29 lead at halftime. The second half however was all Old Dominion as the Lady Monarchs outscored the Dragons, 47-16. In all four Lady Monarchs reached double figures led by Triggs with a game-high 15 points. From off the bench, junior Paula Muxiri added 13 and sophomore Shahida Williams notched 11 points. Senior Lawona Davis also poured in 10. On Sunday, Old Dominion won its tenth straight as they handed Northeastern an 87-41 loss. The Lady Monarchs controlled the game from beginning to end opening the first half with an 11-2 advantage. Old Dominion owned a 48-17 edge at halftime and allowed Northeastern just seven field goals in the half and 15 total for the game. Junior Sherida Triggs, one of four Lady Monarchs in double figures, collected her third double-double of the year with 19 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Paula Muxiri and sophomore Shahida Williams came off the bench for 14 and 13 respectively, while senior Lawona Davis netted 10. Old Dominion outrebounded the Huskies 62-39, led by Triggs' 12. Sophomore Megan Pym also reset her career-high by hauling in nine.
About George Mason: The George Mason Patriots enter Friday night's game with an 8-12 overall mark and 4-7 record in the CAA. While their loss to the Lady Monarchs back on January 20th began a three-game losing streak for the Patriots, George Mason has since turned things around entering Friday having won three straight. The Patriots took Hofstra into overtime and emerged with a 67-65 victory and also rattled off wins against Northeastern and William & Mary to be come one of the hottest teams in the CAA right now. Moni Akintunde is the lone Patriot with double figure scoring and continues to lead her squad averaging 10.5 points per game and 7.9 rebounds per game. However, in CAA contests, Akintunde is slightly below her season average at 8.8 points per game.
The Series With George Mason: The Patriots are one of five CAA teams that have yet to defeat the Lady Monarchs. Old Dominion owns a 37-0 record against George Mason. The Patriots have come close several times to putting a mark in the win column against the Lady Monarchs, most recently with an 85-81 loss in the CAA Tournament finale in 2004 at the Constant Center and a 68-63 overtime loss during the CAA Tournament semifinals at the ODU Fieldhouse in 2002. In their last meeting, the Patriots were down by only one point, 35-34, but finished the game with a 71-55 setback.
Last time vs. George Mason: Junior Sherida Triggs' double-double of a career-high 22 points along with 12 rebounds helped propel the Old Dominion women's basketball game to a 71-55 victory over George Mason back on January 20th at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The Lady Monarchs held on to only a one-point lead at the half, 35-34. However, half number two proved to be a different story for Old Dominion as they outscored George Mason, 21-5, in the first 11 minutes. A Triggs jumper, two of 11 points she had during that span, gave the Lady Monarchs a 56-39 lead with nine minutes remaining. The Patriots would be outscored in the second half 36-21 and late in the game Old Dominion enjoyed as much as a 21 points lead. A fast break lay-up by rookie Jazzmin Walters gave the Lady Monarchs a 67-46 edge with 3:06 remaining. The first half saw a see-saw battle between the two teams which were featuring in the 2004 CAA Tournament final. Tracy Ann Holness hit a three-pointer from the right side of the arc to give the Patriots a 13-8 lead with 15:09 on the clock. Within two minutes, the score was knotted at 15-15 and a combination of a Shantel Wilson jumper and free throws gave Old Dominion a 25-18 advantage at 9:15. The Patriots would not give up though as their 7-2 run would pull them to within two points. Holding on to the 27-25 lead with 7:19 left in the half, Old Dominion bumped its lead to six on three-pointers by junior Paula Muxiri (Luanda, Angola) and T.J. Jordan (Norfolk, Va.). Trailing 33-27 with 3:31 to go, the Patriots would end half on a 7-2 run to close the gap to one at the intermission.Holness was the lone Patriot in double figures with 11 points. Moni Akintunde had a team-high nine rebounds. Sophomore T.J. Jordan added in 10 points for the Lady Monarchs along with three assists. Additionally Triggs tied her career-high with four blocks.
About Georgia State: The Lady Panthers are 7-12 overall and 2-8 in the CAA entering this weekend's contests. Georgia State will travel to Hofstra on Friday evening before entering the Constant Center for their first meeting with the Lady Monarchs. The Lady Panthers went 16-14 overall last year and 12-8 overall, tying for second place in the Atlantic Sun conference. Georgia State just recently snapped a five-game losing streak with an 78-69 overtime victory at home against Towson. Junior guard Kelcey Roegiers-Jensen has been among the league's top scorers and enters the weekend averaging 13.8 points and 5.3 boards per game. The Lady Panthers' second leading scorer, senior guard/forward Monica Thomas, is pouring in 10.2 points per game.
The Series With Georgia State: Sunday afternoon's meeting with the Panthers will mark the first ever contest.
Familiar Face: Assistant Coach Susan Montgomery will be familiar to the crew from Georgia State. The fifth year veteran Lady Monarch assistant joined the Lady Monarchs from the Panther program in 2001. Montgomery spent four years as an assistant at Georgia State aiding the Lady Panther's back-to-back 24 win seasons and the 2001 TAAC title. During the 2001 season, she was a key component in Georgia State's first-ever appearance in the NCAA Tournament, facing national powerhouse Louisiana Tech in the East Region. During her tenure, she served as the Lady Panther's recruiting coordinator bringing two TAAC All-Newcomers, including the 1999 TAAC Newcomer of the Year, to Atlanta.
The Tale Of Two Halves: The second half in the Lady Monarchs' game against Drexel last Friday was remarkably different the first half. After entering the locker room at half time down by four points, 29-33, the Lady Monarchs went on to outscore the Dragons, 47-16, in the second half resulting in a 27-point victory. The 16 points scored by the Dragons in half number two marked the fewest points scored by an ODU opponent in a half this season. Drexel's Jackie Falson, who had 11 points in the first half for the Dragons, managed only one free throw to end the night with 12 points. Drexel only managed five field goals in the second half. The Lady Monarchs opened half number two with a 16-5 run. Senior Lawona Davis knocked down back-to-back buckets to give Old Dominion a 40-38 lead with 15:22, a lead in which they would never relinquish. Less than two minutes later, junior Sherida Triggs completed the traditional three-point play to give Old Dominion a seven-point edge. Leading 45-38 with 13:13 to go, Narissa Suber got to the basket to close the Drexel gap to five, however, it would the closest the Dragons would get the rest of the night. From that point the Lady Monarchs would outscore Drexel 24-7, holding the Dragons to only one more field goal.
Hit Me With Your Best Shot: The Lady Monarchs shot a season-best 56.1 percent from the floor, replacing their previous effort of 55.0 from their first meeting with Drexel. Old Dominion connected on 32-of-57 from the floor.
Welcoming Northeastern: On Sunday, the Lady Monarchs took on Northeastern for the first time as conference rivals resulting in a 46-point, 87-41 win. The 46-point victory was the largest for Old Dominion this season and biggest since the Lady Monarchs downed Virginia Commonwealth 108-46 during the 2001-02 season. That season, Old Dominion reached the "Elite Eight" of the NCAA Tournament falling to eventual national champion Connecticut.
Grabbing The Boards: Old Dominion hauled in a season-high 62 rebounds against the Northeastern Huskies last Sunday. While that may seem like a record, the school record belongs to the 1980 AIAW Championship team, which collected an astounding 82 boards against Virginia State.
Bench Scoring: Old Dominion's bench scored 41 points against Northeastern on Sunday, equaling the same amount of points the Huskies collected.
Welcome Back Alumni: It will be alumni day during Sunday's game against Georgia State. In conjunction with the university's 75th anniversary, the Old Dominion athletic department will recognize those women who helped build the foundation for the Lady Monarch program honoring those who played before Division I play (1930-1976) at half-time.