March 6, 2008
NORFOLK, Va. -- Seniors T.J. Jordan (Portsmouth, Va.), Megan Pym (Newfield, N.Y.),and Shahida Williams (Newark, N.J.) ended the regular season on a high note as the No. 16/13 Old Dominion women's basketball team closed out the regular season with 91-71 victory over Hofstra Thursday night at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
The Lady Monarchs, who improved to 26-4 overall and will be the top seed at the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament, will face the winner of the No. 8 UNC-Wilmington/No. 9 Delaware first round match-up as they begin their quest for their 17th consecutive CAA crown next week.
Old Dominion's Williams was just one point shy of tying her career mark and ended the night with 18 points as one of four Lady Monarchs in double figures. Junior Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) netted 16 in the victory, while sophomore Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) added in 15, and rookie Shadasia Green (Patterson, N.J.) tied her season mark with 10.
Hofstra's Candice Bellocchio led all scorers with a career-high 21 points. Nine of her points came from the charity stripe where she went 9-of-10. Linn Quamme came off the Pride bench to net 15.
The Lady Monarchs, who were looking to return to the win column following last Sunday's loss to James Madison, never allowed the Pride a lead in the game. With the score tied at 6-6 with 14:07 in the first half, Old Dominion proceeded to take 11-0 run to take over the lead for good. At half, the Lady Monarch held a 44-31 advantage.
The Pride would only be able to cut its defict down to seven in the second half. Out of halftime, Bellocchio hit back-to-back three's as Hofstra trailed 44-37 with 19:07 left in the game. However over the next four minutes, Old Dominion would hold Hofstra scoreless while the Lady Monarchs racked up 10 points to lead by double figures the rest of the way. A Canady lay-up with 2:43 to go gave Old Dominion its largest lead of the game, a 23-point 87-64 edge.
Old Dominion reached the 90-point mark for the second time this season and shot nearly fifty percent from the field.
Old Dominion returns to action next week at the 2008 CAA Women's Basketball Tournament at the Bob Carpenter Center on the campus of the University of Delaware.
First round action tips off at Noon on Thursday as #7 William & Mary takes on #10 Georgia State. At 2:30 p.m., #6 Northeastern meets #11 George Mason. Beginning at 5 p.m., #8 UNC Wilmington will play host #9 Delaware, followed by #5 Towson versus #12 Hofstra at 7:3 0p.m.
In Friday's quarterfinals, #2 James Madison goes against the William &Mary/Georgia State winner at Noon, while #3 VCU takes on the Northeastern/George Mason victor at 2:30 p.m. Top-seeded Old Dominion will face the winner of UNC Wilmington/Delaware at 5 p.m., before #4 Drexel plays the Towson/Hofstra victor.
The semifinals are set for Noon and 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, with the championship game taking place at 12:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 16.
All 11 games of the CAA women's basketball championship will be available via various multimedia platforms. Thursday's first-round games and Friday's quarterfinal contests will be webstreamed on CAASports.com. Both semifinal games on Saturday will be televised by CN8 and other CAA television affiliates. The semifinals can also be viewed on the internet at www.cn8.tv. Comcast SportsNet will televise the CAA championship game on Sunday afternoon.