March 10, 2006
FAIRFAX, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team will defend it Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) crown on Saturday afternoon after advancing to the championship game with a 94-73 semifinal victory over fourth seeded Hofstra. The top seeded Lady Monarchs will take on second seeded James Madison at noon at the Patriot Center. The game will be televised live on Comcast Sportsnet (Ch. 35 - Hampton Roads).
Everyone scored for the Lady Monarchs which included a season-tying 23 points by junior T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) and a career-high nine points by junior Angie Brown (Albany, Ky.). Joining Jordan in double figures was junior Paula Muxiri (Luanda, Angola) with 14, junior Tish Lyons (Newport News, Va.) with 12, and senior Lawona Davis (Port St. Lucie, Fla.) with 10. It was the eighth time this season the entire roster recorded points.
The 94 points scored by the Lady Monarchs was the most in tournament action by the squad since the 2000 tournament which saw ODU scored 92 points in its 92-49 victory over UNC-Wilmington for its ninth straight CAA title.
Old Dominion shot a season-best 59.3 percent from the floor, but were outrebounded for the eighth time this season 44-41.
Hofstra's Vanessa Gidden collected her ** double-double of the year with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Additionally, Gidden shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line. Lizanne Murphy registered a team-high 19 points, while Amaka Agugua poured in 12, and Lana Harshaw came off the bench for 11 points.
The victory improved Old Dominion to 21-8 on the season, while Hofstra with a 18-11 mark will await to seed if they will be selected to the NIT.
James Madison advanced to the championship game with a 61-59 thriller over Delaware in the evening's other semifinal game. The Duke's Jasmin Lawrence hit a game-winning layup with 1.9 seconds remaining as part of her career-high 16 points to lift James Madison to victory.