Oct. 29, 2006
NORFOLK, VA -- The 2006-2007 Lady Monarchs took the hardwood for the first time in the Annual Blue-White Scrimmage. Led by hard-nose defense and tough offense from the forwards the ODU Blue team squeaked a 53-51 victory from the home team.
ODU was led by Tiffany Green with 16 points and 9 rebounds for the game. Green was followed closely by T.J. Jordan with 15 points on a 6-for-11 shooting night including two from outside the arc. All but one Lady Monarch scored and had at least two rebounds each. Megan Pym and Tamara Ransburg both played very well in the middle for Head Coach Wendy Larry. Pym had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, and one block while Ransburg added 11 points, 6 boards, and 2 steals.
The forwards also shot very well from the charity stripe. Sherida Triggs (2-2), Green (2-2) and Pym (4-4) were perfect, Shahida Williams (4-6) was at 66 percent, and Ransburg (4-8) hit fifty percent. Up front the Lady Monarchs shot 73 percent (16-22) from the free-throw line.
The real story, however, was the defense from the Monarchs. The team as a whole stole the ball 17 times and added 5 blocks in the shortened 32-minute game. The great defense extended beyond the statistics as well, as a number of shots were contested throughout the game. The Lady Monarchs shooting percentage was just 38.7 percent (40-106) because of the solid defense. Coach Larry commented after the game that when on offense, in either direction, players were forced to play against some very good defenders and hopefully it will improve their offense for the future.
The Lady Monarchs grabbed 59 total rebounds and shared the ball well for 25 assists.
ODU returns to action at the Ted Constant Convocation Center on Wednesday, November 1 for the Team Concept Exhibition game at 7:00 pm.