Nov. 7, 2006
NORFOLK, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team, in its final exhibition showing before opening the 2006-07 regular season at Virginia, defeated M.I. Express, 104-50, on Tuesday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Lady Monarchs were led by the 23-point effort from junior guard T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) and a double-double from senior forward Sherida Triggs (Norcross, Ga.) with 15 points and 11 boards from off the bench.
In all, five Lady Monarchs reached double figure scoring. Junior forward Shahida Williams (Newark, N.J.) ended the night with 14 points, but shot just 4-of-12 from the free throw line. Williams also ended the night with five steals. Sophomore Jazzmin Walters (Norfolk, Va.) added in 13 points along with four assists.
Fellow point guard Jen Nuzzo (Newport News, Va.) dished out six assists in the win. Junior Megan Pym (Newfield, N.Y.) handed out four assists, grabbed six boards, and recorded a game-high seven steals. Junior Tay Ransburg (Kansas City, Mo.) was just one board shy of reaching double digit rebounding collecting nine in the final exhibition showing.
The Lady Monarch defense only allowed one M.I. Express player to net double digits. Former Lady Monarch standout and three-time CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player Shareese Grant returned to the Ted Constant Convocation Center scoring 19 points to go along with five rebounds and four steals.
Old Dominion held a tremendous 58-31 advantage on the boards, but were plagued by 31 turnovers and 54.5 percent (24-of-44) shooting from the line. Triggs did shoot 7-of-7 from the charity stipe and Jordan hit all her shots as well going 4-of-4.
Old Dominion held a 50-27 lead at the half and outscored M.I. Express, 54-23 in the second half. The visitors only led once as Grant connected on a free throw in the opening seconds for M.I. Express. From there the Lady Monarch offense exploded taking a 29-9 lead midway through the first half. A Jordan three, one of five she sunk on the night, gave ODU its largest lead of the game, 56, in the final minute of action.
The Lady Monarchs, ranked 18th in the Street & Smith Preseason Poll and receiving votes in the WBCA/ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll, travel to Virginia on Sunday, November 12th to kick off the regular season. The Cavaliers, ranked 20th in the Preseason Street & Smith Poll, will be playing their first game in the new John Paul Jones Arena. Tip-off is at 1:30 p.m.