Feb. 22, 2008
Drexel Game Notes in PDF Format
ABOUT THE LADY MONARCHS:The No. 10/12 Lady Monarchs are winners in their last 17 contests and in 20 of their last 21 games. Old Dominion is coming off an 87-67 road victory at Virginia Commonwealth. The win saw five different Lady Monarchs score led by freshman Jasmine Parker, who shot a blistering 4-of-4 from downtown, and junior Tiffany Green posted her third double-double of the year with 14 points and 10 boards. The Lady Monarchs vaulted three positions in the Associated Press Poll earlier in the week to No. 10 while jumping two spots in the ESPN/USA Today. Senior T.J. Jordan continues to lead the squad at 14.0 points per game and is followed by sophomore Jessica Canady, who comes off the bench to average 10.8 points per contest. Junior Tiffany Green rounds out the trio of Lady Monarchs in double figures at 10.5 points per game. Senior Megan Pym continues leads the Lady Monarchs on the glass at 7.7 rebounds per game.
ABOUT DREXEL:The Dragons enter Sunday afternoon's contest in third place in the CAA with a 15-10 overall mark and 10-4 record in league play. Drexel is riding a three-game winning streak, which included a 54-38 victory at William & Mary Thursday night. The Dragons are led by Gabriela Marginean at 18.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game. Marginean is second only to James Madison's Tamera Young in scoring in the league. Three-point threat Narissa Suber is the only other Dragon averaging double figures at 11.6 points per game.
COMPARE AND CONTRAST:
ODU - DU
74.4 - Scoring - 59.9
.441 - Field Goal Percentage - .422
.367 - 3PT Field Goal Percentage - .375
.646 - Free Throw Percentage - .803
42.5 - Rebounds Per Game - 30.6
16.9 - Assists Per Game - 14.3
19.0 - Turnovers Per Game - 14.7
11.5 - Steals Per Game - 7.7
5.0 - Blocks Per Game - 3.4
SERIES WITH DREXEL:Old Dominion holds a 13-1 record against Drexel as these two teams became annual rivals when the Dragons enter the CAA conference for the 2001-02 season. The Dragons' lone victory came up the Daskalakis Center in the 2005 regular season finale with Drexel holding on to a 71-68 victory. However, in the rematch, Old Dominion edged out Drexel, 64-63, in the CAA Tournament semifinals en-route to the Lady Monarchs' 14th straight CAA title. The Lady Monarchs defeated the Dragons three times last year - 70-45 at the Constant Center, and 83-51 at the Daskalakis Center and 66-55 at the Bob Carpenter Center in the quarterfinals of the CAA Tournament.
LAST TIME VS. DREXEL: The top-seeded Old Dominion women's basketball team advanced to the semifinals of 2007 Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Women's Basketball Tournament with 66-55 win over ninth-seeded Drexel on March 9, 2007 at the Bob Carpenter Center. T.J. Jordan led the Lady Monarchs with 17 points while fellow starter Sherida Triggs added in 14 and Tiffany Green chipping in 17. Narissa Suber had a game-high 20 points in the loss for the Dragons and CAA Rookie of the Year Gabriela Marginean posted her seventh double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. With the score tied at 21-21 with 5:06 remaining in the second half, the Lady Monarchs went on a 9-0 fueled by two three-pointer by Jordan and four points from Shantel Wilson. Old Dominion went into the half up 34-25. Although Triggs would score the first eight ODU points of the second half, Drexel managed to cut its deficit to three. The Dragons outscored the Lady Monarchs 10-4 in the first five minutes of the second half as Old Dominion held on to a 38-35 advantage with 15:19 left in the game. Another Lady Monarchs run ensued. This time Old Dominion used a 8-0 run for a 11-points46-35 lead with 12:29 and would go on to lead by as many as 14. The Dragons did not go quietly though. Green converted a traditional three-point play as the Lady Monarchs led 57-47 with 4:28 left in the game. Free throws by Marginean and a lay-up by Delise Johnson cut the Drexel deficit to six, but the Dragons would shoot 2-of-8 down the stretch. The Lady Monarchs meanwhile regained its double digit lead to close out the game. The Lady Monarchs went 17-of-19 from the free throw line to hit 89.5 percent of their shots from the charity stripe, the second best performance in a game last season. Jordan went a perfect 6-of-6, including a pair of shots in the closing seconds of the game which pushed the ODU lead back up to double figures. Tish Lyons also went a perfect 5-of-5.
CAA STREAK:Old Dominion has won its last 25 straight CAA contests. The Lady Monarchs last loss in league play was a 79-50 against James Madison in Harrisonburg on February 1, 2007.
UNDEFEATED - AT HOME:Old Dominion is currently 11-0 at home and finished non-conference play at 5-0 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
HOME COURT STREAK:The Lady Monarchs have won a nation-leading 21 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.
CAA HOME COURT STREAK: The Lady Monarchs have won 32 straight home CAA contests dating back to the January 14, 2005, 78-59, victory over Virginia Commonwealth. ODU's last conference loss at the Ted Constant Convocation Center was against Delaware, 70-73, on January 9, 2005. Old Dominion holds a 153-2 home CAA mark.
WELCOME TO THE TED:Since the doors opened at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in 2002, the Lady Monarchs have enjoyed a 74-12 record.
HELLO TOP 10 - AP:The Lady Monarchs have returns to the Top Ten of the Associated Press Poll for the first time since the end of the 1999 season. Old Dominion, who started the season unranked, returned to the Top 25 in the AP for week four following their upset victory over Michigan State on December 2. Old Dominion was ranked at No. 24 and made its first appearance in the AP Poll since the final poll of the 2002 season when the Lady Monarchs finished 15th and advanced to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.
HELLO TOP 25 - ESPN/USA TODAY:The Lady Monarchs cracked the Top 25 of the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll during week seven coming at No. 23 following SEC road wins at Kentucky and Vanderbilt. It is the Lady Monarchs first appearance in the Coaches' Poll since the second week of the 2002-03 season. This week, the Lady Monarchs jumped two positions to No. 12.
WHAT'S REMAINING:Four games are left in the Lady Monarchs' regular season. Two of the four games are against the top three in the CAA with Old Dominion meeting with Drexel (third), and James Madison (second) before heading off to the Bob Carpenter Center for the 2008 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament in search of conference title number 17.
ANOTHER THREE POINT RECORD:T.J. Jordan grows ever closer to becoming the CAA's all-time three-point shooter. Jordan connected on 3-of-6 from the arc at Virginia Commonwealth in a 87-67 victory to bring her career three-point field goal total to 306, three shy of tying the league record. The CAA three-point record is currently 309 held by Julie Jones from former CAA member Richmond (1998-92).
ANOTHER 500 VICTORY MILESTONE:Old Dominion head coach Wendy Larry is just five wins away from her 500th win at the helm of the Lady Monarch program. To date, Larry has captured a 495-163 mark in 21 seasons as the head coach of the Lady Monarch. Larry reached her 500th career win last season against Chicago State and has a 544-194 overall mark in 24 seasons as the leader of the Old Dominion, Arizona State, and Virgina Wesleyan programs.
CRACKING A TOP TEN: Junior Jazzmin Walters cracked the the top ten junior assist list at Old Dominion on February 7th in the Lady Monarchs' 71-61 win at George Mason. Walters, who entered the game needing two assists to crack the list, dished out six assists against the Patriots and vaulted immediately into seventh place. Walters now stands tied for fifth on the list with 127 assists to her name in the 2007-08 season.
UP NEXT: The No. 10/12 Lady Monarchs close out the season series with George Mason on Thursday, February 28th at 7:00 p.m. at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.