Feb. 28, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. -- The No. 11 Old Dominion women's basketball team cliched the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) regular season title and the top seed at the upcoming 2008 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament with an 82-44 victory over George Mason Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Senior T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.) became the CAA's all-time leader in three-point field goals with her first three of the night hitting the record breaking trey with 19:46 left in the second half.
"At halftime I was telling myself 'take your time, take open shots'," said Jordan. "The ball was reversed back to me and they were guarding me pretty far back with their hands down. It felt good when it left my hand. I knew it was going in."
Modestly Jordan added of her record, "It means a lot."
Jordan, who would go on to hit another shot from downtown to bring her career total to 311 three-pointers made, surpassed the previous record of 309 held by Julie Jones (Richmond - 1988-92). The senior guard, who was honored Wednesday night as the Portsmouth Sports Club Virginia Female College Athlete of the Year, scored six points in all bringing her career total to 1,446, just two points shy of surpassing former teammate and Hampton Roads native Shareese Grant for 15th on the all-time scoring leaders list.
Junior Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) led all scorers pouring in 19 points and hauling in 12 rebounds, including eight offensive, for her fourth double-double of the 2007-08 season and the 15th of her career. Green's presence inside, along with sophomore Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) who came off the bench for 17 points shooting a perfect 6-of-6 from the field, helped Old Dominion outscore George Mason 45-24 in the paint.
Senior Shahida Williams (Newark, N.J.) was among the other Lady Monarchs in double figures adding in 13 points along with five assists, while freshman Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va.) captured 11 to have notched double figures in three of her last four games. Together Parker and Canady combined for 28 of Old Dominion's 33 bench points.
The Lady Monarchs (25-3, 16-0 CAA) led from the jump racing out to an 8-0 lead within the first two and half minutes of action. The closest George Mason would find themselves would be down four, 10-6, with 14:54 left in the opening stanza. After the Patriots' Eugenia Broadus cut her squad's deficit to four, Old Dominion proceeded to take an 8-0 run and never look back. The 16-time defending CAA champions led by as many as 20 with three minutes remaining and had established a 38-23 halftime advantage.
George Mason (9-18, 3-13 CAA), who shot a blistering 61.5 percent in the second half in the first meeting with Old Dominion and was able to cut a 22-point deficit down to eight with under a minute remaining in the game, was kept in check this time around by the Lady Monarchs. The Patriots would be outscored 44-21 in half number two and held to 8-of-37 (21.6 percent) from the floor.
Lateisha Wade was the lone Patriot in double figures with 17 points. She was held to just four second half points after notching 13 in the first half. Moni Akintunde and Broadus each had six in George Mason's fifth straight loss.
The No. 11 Old Dominion Lady Monarchs travel to Harrisonburg, Virginia for their final regular season road trip when they take on the James Madison Dukes on Sunday, March 2nd at 3:00 p.m. The game will be aired live on Comcast SportsNet (Ch. 35 - Hampton Roads) with Al Koken on play-by-play and Christy Winter-Scott on color.
NOTE: If the Lady Monarchs advance to the CAA Tournament Championship Game on Sunday, March 16th - Old Dominion will sponsor a fan bus to Delaware for the game. Tickets will be $55 and include a game-ticket. Please call 757-683-3359 beginning Monday, March 3rd to reserve your spot.