Nov. 20, 2007
Paradise Jam Game Notes in PDF Format
TV: The Paradise Jam will be aired by Fox College Sports. Friday's game against Connecticut will be aired tape delayed at 11:00 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet, channel 35 in the Hampton Roads area. Mark Brown and Brenda VanLengan will be on the call.
VIDEO: Wanna watch the Lady Monarchs in St. Thomas. Sign up with www.watchbtihoops.com. Packages range fom $17.95 to $7.95.
ABOUT THE LADY MONARCHS: The Old Dominion women's basketball team is heading to Paradise...the Paradise Jam that is. The Lady Monarchs will be apart of a three-game tournament in St. Thomas over Thanksgiving. Play opens up against Connecticut on Friday, Nov. 23, followed by Stanford on Saturday, Nov. 24, and either Duke, Purdue, or Temple, on Sunday, Nov. 25. Old Dominion enters the contest at 3-0 led by a pair of Lady Monarchs averaging double figures. New three-point record holder, senior guard T.J. Jordan, is averaging 19.0 points per game, followed by sophomore Jessica Canady on the stat sheet at 13.0. Preseason Second Team All-CAA selection, junior forward/center Tiffany Green, leads the squad in rebounding at 7.7 boards per game.
BEEN AWHILE...: It will be the first meeting between the Old Dominion and Connecticut since the 2002 Elite Eight match-up. When Old Dominion takes the court in their next game, it will be the first time the Lady Monarchs and Stanford have faced each other since the thrilling over time national semifinal game in 1997. Should the Lady Monarchs meet Purdue on Sunday, it will mark the first time 2002 Old Dominion will take on the Boilermakers since it's upset over second-seeded and host Purdue in the second round of the NCAA Tournament in 2002.
ABOUT CONNECTICUT: Connecticut will hit the hardwood a day before Old Dominion, taking on Stanford on Thanksgiving. Entering tournament action, the Huskies are 2-0 with wins over Stony Brook and Holy Cross. Preseason BIG EAST Freshman of the Year, Maya Moore, leads the Huskies with 26. points and 7.5 rebounds per game. Mel Thomas checks in at 15.0 points per game, while Tina Charles, the 2006-07 BIG EAST Freshman of the Year and the USBWA National Freshman of the Year, is averaging 14.5 points and 6.0 boards per contest. Charles is in the UConn record books for freshman records in blocks (81) and rebounds (296). The Big East favorites, Connecticut has been crowned regular-season champion 15 times, while winning 13 tournament titles.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST:
ODU - UConn
82.0 - Scoring - 94.5
.471 - Field Goal Percentage -.541
.400 - 3PT Field Goal Percentage - .421
.755 - Free Throw Percentage -.600
39.5 - Rebounds Per Game - 46.0
21.5 - Assists Per Game - 29.5
24.0 - Turnovers Per Game - 12.0
15.5 - Steals Per Game - 14.0
7.5 - Blocks Per Game - 6.0
SERIES WITH CONNECTICUT: Old Dominion is 1-5 all-time against the Huskies. The lone Lady Monarch victory in the series occurred on February 13, 1999 with a 82-77 victory.
LAST TIME VS. CONNECTICUT: Sue Bird and the unbeaten Connecticut Huskies bounced the party crashers out of the NCAA tournament back on March 25, 2002. Bird scored a career-high 26 points and dished out 11 assists as UConn advanced to its third Final Four in the eight years by beating Old Dominion 85-64. The Lady Monarchs (28-6), miffed at their No. 7 seeding, had used the perceived slight to fuel upsets of second-seeded Purdue and third-seeded Kansas State. The top-ranked and top-seeded Huskies (37-0) made their first 13 shots and sank their first five free throws in racing to a 34-14 lead less than 10 minutes into the Mideast Regional final. The Huskies jumped out to a 20-4 lead in less than five minutes and sank 19 of their first 21 shots from the field before finishing the first half at a 75 percent mark (21-of-28). At halftime, they were up 55-33. Their lead never dipped below 14 in the second half. Lucienne Berthieu, the Monarchs' leading scorer and second-leading rebounder, got into early foul trouble and finished with just six points and four rebounds in 17 minutes. She had no points and one rebound after halftime. She didn't check into the game in the second half until 11:33 remained with the Monarchs trailing 68-50. Old Dominion got within 14 points at 72-58 with 6:12 left when Okeisha Howard, who led the Monarchs with 20 points, made two free throws. UConn responded with four free throws, two by sophomore Diana Taurasi, who scored 22, and two by Bird, and the Monarchs were done. Bird broke her previous career high of 25 points with an eight-foot jumper from the left baseline with 1:09 remaining. The Huskies finished with 25 assists, the first of which broke their own NCAA record of 786 in a season.
LAST MEETING WITH A BIG EAST TEAM: Old Dominion defeated Rutgers 72-55 at the Constant Center back on Dec. 30, 2006, a squad that advanced to the national championship game against Tennessee.
LAST TIME VS. STANFORD: On Jan.23, 2005 during the Duke-Tennessee showdown on ESPN, the network showed the Old Dominion women's basketball team's thrilling come-from-behind overtime victory over Stanford in the national semifinals as the 23rd most memorable moment in the 25 Years NCAA Women's Tournament History. Old Dominion defeated the Cardinal, 83-82, in overtime at Riverfront Coliseum in Cincinnati, Ohio holding on as Stanford missed three shots in the final 10 seconds of the extra period to advance to the championship game against Tennessee. Old Dominion had beaten Stanford during the regular season, but came into the rematch as the underdog, falling behind 31-16 with 7:48 left in the first half. Up to that point in history no team had overcome a 15-point deficit in a Final Four semifinal.
LAST MEETING WITH A PAC-10 TEAM: Old Dominion last met a Pac-10 team during NCAA Tournament competition. The Lady Monarchs, an 11-seed, fell to the sixth-seeded Washington Huskies. Washington's Loree Payne hit a 15-foot jump shot at the buzzer to lift the Huskies past Old Dominion 67-65 in the first round of the West Regional. With 0.7 seconds remaining, Payne, then a sophomore, took the inbounds pass from Megan Franza, spotted up on the baseline and swished home the game winner as the buzzer blared.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST:
ODU - Stanford
82.0 - Scoring - 80.3
.471 - Field Goal Percentage - .422
.400 - 3PT Field Goal Percentage - .250
.755 - Free Throw Percentage -.722
39.5 - Rebounds Per Game - 54.0
21.5 - Assists Per Game - 15.3
24.0 - Turnovers Per Game - 14.7
15.5 - Steals Per Game - 7.0
7.5 - Blocks Per Game - 5.3
SERIES WITH STANFORD:Old Dominion is 3-1 all-time against the Cardinal. The Lady Monarchs have won the last two meetings last occurring in the 1996-97 season.
STARTING ON THE RIGHT FOOT: Old Dominion has opened the season with three consecutive wins for the first time since the 1998-1999 season. That season the Lady Monarchs opened the year with five straight wins en-route to the Sweet 16. The five wins came against Marshall, No. 8/12 Teas Tech, No. 10 N.C. State, and Southern California and Southwest Missouri State in the Torneo Cancun de Basquetboll Tournament. The streak came to end in a setback to No.6/7 Alabama in the Wachovia Women's Classic.
WRITING HER NAME INTO HISTORY: Senior guard T.J. Jordan managed to find to more places to put her name in the Old Dominion record books in the Lady Monarchs' 80-59 victory over Charlotte. With a game-high 28 points, Jordan broke the ODU record for most points scored by a Lady Monarch at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The previous record of 27 points was held by Max Nhassengo against Hofstra on Feb. 24, 2004. Additionally with her six three-pointers made, she becomes the ODU recorder holder for three-pointers made in a career with 251 to date, surpassing Aubrey Eblin's (1995-1999) former mark of 250.
DISH IT TO ME: Junior guard Jazzmin Walters dished out a career-high 12 assists in ODU's 88-66 victory over East Carolina, while committing no turnovers. The 5-2 guard recorded five steals as well in the victory. Last season, Walters finished seventh on the sophomore assist leaders list with 100 dishes.
NO SOPHOMORE SLUMP: Jessica Canady shined in the first three Lady Monarch games of 2007-08 season debut. Against Middle Tennessee in the season and home opener, the lone ODU sophomore came off the bench and played a career-high 23 minutes. Netting a then career-high 13 points, she also added three steals and three blocks. Canady did not have to wait much longer to reset her career mark in points as she lead all scorers with 18 in ODU's victory at East Carolina. Returning home to host Charlotte, the second year Lady Monarch posted new career marks in steals (4) and minutes played (28). To date, she is averaging a team best 13.0 points per game.
MOVING ON UP: With 19 points against the Blue Raiders in the season opener against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 10, senior guard T.J. Jordan moved into 21st on the all-time Old Dominion scoring leaders list. She currently has with 1,151 career points.
HOME COURT STREAK: The Lady Monarchs have 12 straight home contests dating back to the Dec. 20, 2006, 72-55, victory over national runner-up Rutgers, ODU's last loss at the Ted Constant Convocation Center was against national champion Tennessee, 59-75, back on Dec. 22, 2006.
FREE POINTS: Old Dominion went to the line 35 times against Middle Tennessee in the season opener, sinking 27 shots and shooting 77.1 percent from the charity stripe. Two Lady Monarchs showed that working on free throws over the summer can certainly pay off. Junior Tiffany Green,who hit only 51 percent a year ago from the line, went 8-of-9 and senior Shahida Williams, who connected for just 49 percent last season, netted 5-of-6. Also sinking shots from the free throw line against the Blue Raiders was senior T.J. Jordan, who went 6-of-7.
REJECTED: The Old Dominion women's basketball team collected 12 blocks against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 10 to set a new team record at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. The previous record of 11 occurred against East Carolina on Nov. 21, 2006 and conference rival UNC-Wilmington on Feb. 24, 2005. Senior Shahida Williams and junior Tiffany Green led the rejections with four apiece. Williams set a new career mark in the block category while sophomore Jessica Canady tied her career mark with three swats.
IN THE POLLS: The 2007-08 Old Dominion women's basketball team received votes in the ESPN/USA Today Women's Basketball Preseason Poll and moved up to to receiving votes in both national polls following the first week of action. Old Dominion's last Top 25 ranking in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Poll was November 18th, 2003. Old Dominion's last appearance in the Associated Press Top 25 was the final poll of the 2002 season as the Lady Monarchs danced their way to the "Elite Eight".
RANK `EM UP - ESPN/USA TODAY POLL: The Lady Monarchs will be taking on six teams ranked among the nation's top 25 in the ESPN/USA Today Women's Basketball Preseason Poll. Among the teams the Lady Monarchs will take on include three teams in the poll's top ten in No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Connecticut, and No. 8 Stanford. Other upcoming Lady Monarch opponents include No. 17 Vanderbilt, No. 18 Michigan State, and No. 20 Purdue as well as a possible match-up with No. 9 Duke in the Paradise Jam in St. Thomas over Thanksgiving week. Old Dominion opponents receiving votes in the preseason poll include Middle Tennessee, who will serve as the Lady Monarchs season and home opener on November 10th, Kentucky, and Temple, who could be a possible opponent in the Paradise Jam.
RANK `EM UP - AP POLL: The Lady Monarchs will be taking on five teams ranked among the nation's top 25 in the Associated Press Women's Basketball Preseason Poll. Among the teams the Lady Monarchs will take on include three teams in the poll's top ten in No. 1 Tennessee, No. 2 Connecticut, and No. 7 Stanford. Other upcoming Lady Monarch opponents include No. 17 Michigan State and No. 23 Vanderbilt Additionally possible opponent in the Virgin Islands, Duke, is ranked at No. 10. Old Dominion opponents receiving votes in the preseason poll include Middle Tennessee and Kentucky as well as Purdue and Temple, who could be a possible opponents in the Paradise Jam.
WELCOME TO THE TED:Since the doors opened at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in 2002, the Lady Monarchs have enjoyed a 67-12 record.
Ranked Wins At The Constant Center:
11/25/03 - #7 Penn State - W, 75-68
12/7/03- #12/13 UNC - W, 73-68
12/5/04- #16/19 Rutgers - W, 69-61
2/25/07 - #22/25 James Madison- W, 62-57
Losses At The Constant Center:
11/22/02 - Virginia - L, 55-63
1/7/03- #5 Tennessee - L, 63-91
1/31/03- Rutgers - L, 59-67
3/22/03- Boston College (NCAA) - L, 72-73
1/2/05- #8 Tennessee- L, 58-68
1/9/05- Delaware - L, 70-73
11/20/05 - #1/2 Duke - L, 56-93
12/4/05- #19/20 Vanderbilt - L, 77-82
12/29/05 - #5 North Carolina - L, 80-88 (OT)
3/19/06- George Washington (NCAA) - L, 72-87
11/18/06 - #21/24 Kentucky - L, 55-69
12/22/05 - #5 Tennessee - L, 59-75
TOP WBB ATTENDANCE AT THE CONSTANT CENTER
1. Tennessee 1/7/03 - 7,758
2. Virginia 11/22/02 - 7,316
3. Tennessee 12/22/06 - 7,108
4. Tennessee 1/2/05 - 7,063
5. George Washington (NCAA) 3/19/06 - 6,847
6. Rutgers 1/31/03 - 6,384
PRESEASON AWARDS:Senior guard T.J. Jordan was a Preseason First Team All-CAA selection for the second consecutive year. Jordan, a two-time CAA Tournament Most Outstanding Player, averaged a team-leading 14.5 points per game and nearly rewrote every three-point record in the ODU history books. Junior Tiffany Green was named to the Preseason Second Team All-CAA list. Green will be the Lady Monarchs returning leading rebounder as she hauled in 6.0 a year ago along with 8.4 points per game.
CAA PRESEASON POLL - WE'RE #1:Old Dominion, which has captured the past 16 Colonial Athletic Association women's basketball titles, was picked to repeat as conference champion in 2007-08 according to a vote of the league's coaches, sports information directors and media. The Lady Monarchs, who posted their 16th consecutive 20-win season last year, were followed in the voting by James Madison, William & Mary, VCU and Delaware. Picked sixth was Towson, followed by Hofstra, Drexel, Georgia State, Northeastern, UNC Wilmington, and George Mason.
HI MOM - I'M ON TV!: Seven Lady Monarch games will be aired, beginning on Nov. 23 with a Comcast Sportsnet broadcast with nationally ranked Connecticut from the Virgin Islands on tape delay at 11 p.m.. Old Dominion's conference games at Georgia State on Jan. 6, at Delaware on Jan. 27, and at James Madison on Mar. 2 will also be aired on Comcast Sportsnet, available on channel 35 in the Hampton Roads area. Lady Monarch games with Penn State on Nov. 29, James Madison on Jan. 13, and William and Mary on Feb. 10 will be available on WSKY-4. John Castleberry will provide the play by play along with former Lady Monarch and ODU Hall of Famer Jan Trombly on color for all the WSKY games.
SO WE MEET FOR THE FIRST TIME:The only team on the 2007-08 schedule the Lady Monarchs have never faced is Michigan State. The Spartans come to Norfolk on Dec. 2.
SO WE MEET AGAIN:The Lady Monarchs continue annual rivalries with Tennessee and Penn State while taking on Middle Tennessee, East Carolina, Delaware State, and Kentucky for the second straight season. It marks the third straight season ODU and Charlotte will meet on the hardwood while the Lady Monarchs return a game to Vanderbilt from the 2005-06 season.
THINK PINK:The annual HOOPS FOR A CURE game is slated for Feb. 10 against CAA rival William & Mary.
UP NEXT: Old Dominion returns home for two home games. The Lady Monarchs will host a pair of BIG 10 opponents in Penn State on Thursday, Nov. 29 and Michigan State on Sun. Dec. 2.