Jan. 6, 2008
ATLANTA, Ga. - The Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) slate began with the No. 19/23 Old Dominion women's basketball team picking up a 79-59 victory at Georgia State Arena against the host Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
The Lady Monarchs, winners of four straight and seven of their last eight games, improves their mark to 10-3 overall and 1-0 in league action. Georgia State, also playing in their conference opener, meanwhile drops to 3-9 overall and 0-1 in the CAA.Sophomore Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) captured a new-career mark with a team-leading 21 points along with a game-high 10 boards for her second career double-double. Canady shot 7-of-8 from field and a perfect 7-of-7 from the line. Georgia State's Brittany Hollins led all scorers with 25.
The Lady Monarch led 35-24 at the half en-route to improving to 17-0 all-time in CAA openers. The Panthers held a 12-11 edge with 12:36 left in the opening half, but from there the ranked Lady Monarchs took over the game. Seven members of the Old Dominion roster netted a basket while Georgia State's Brittany Hollins and Danyiell McKeller combined for 16 of the Panther's 24 halftime total. led the Lady Monarch contingent with 10 points from off the bench.
Georgia State managed just four field goals in the half's final ten minutes and at one point was held scoreless for nearly six minutes. During the Panthers drought, Old Dominion used a 15-0 run to take a 33-17 advantage with 5:19 remaining.
Old Dominion put together another fine first half free throw performance. After going 9-of-10 in the first half against then No. 20/21 Vanderbilt in the previous game, the Lady Monarchs went 7-of-8 from the charity stripe in the first half of Sunday's game against Georgia State.
In early part of the second half, Georgia State cut it to single figures twice. Hollins on a break-away basket cut the Panther deficit to 43-35. Junior Jazzmin Walters (Norfolk, Va.) returned a brief 10 point lead back to Old Dominion with a pair a free throws, but Georgia State closed the gap to under ten on their trip back down the floor. After two missed Panther shots, Hollins finally put the ball up in as Old Dominion led 45-37. On the next trip down the court senior T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) put away a pair of free throws and returned the double figure edge to the Lady Monarchs for good.
At one point during the second half, senior Shahida Williams (Newark, N.J.) scored eight straight points in helping to extend the Lady Monarch lead.
The Lady Monarchs shot a season-high 73.3 percent from the line in the victory over the Panthers. In addition to Canady going her perfect 7-of-7, Walters also shot a perfect 4-of-4 from the charity stripe along with a 2-of-2 effort from senior Megan Pym (Newfield, N.Y.).
Old Dominion and Georgia State will meet against on Thursday, January 31 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center to wrap up the season series.
The No. 19/23 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs conclude a four-game road swing on Wednesday, January 9, when they travel to UNC-Wilmington for 7:00 p.m. tip. The Lady Monarchs will return to the friendly confines of the Ted Constant Convocation Center for their CAA opener next Sunday on January 13. Game times against the Dukes is 2:00 p.m. with the contest being televised on WSKY-4 in the Hampton Roads area.