March 13, 2009
CAA Tournament Semifinal Game Notes in PDF Format 
HARRISONBURG, Va. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team opened up defense of its conference crown on Friday afternoon with a 61-56 victory over UNC-Wilmington in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Tournament quarterfinals. The Lady Monarchs will meet top-seeded Drexel at noon Saturday as they look to continuing dancing onto an 18th straight CAA crown.
Old Dominion (17-12) looked to have the game in hand as the Lady Monarchs had established a 13-point lead with 3:12 remaining in the game. However a 15-4 run by the Seahawks (16-15) made it a two-point ball game with less than a minute remaining. UNC-Wilmington's Brittany Blackwell ran the length of the court putting laying the ball up and it and was fouled as Old Dominion clung to a 58-56 advantage with the clock reading 54 seconds.
Blackwell missed her chance for the Seahawks to close the gap to within one as junior Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) made one of her game-high 13 rebounds. Canady quickly turned the ball over giving UNC-Wilmington a shot at tying the game. The Seahawks, however, were not able to find its way to the basket as senior Jen Nuzzo (Newport News, Va.) tipped away the inbounds for the Lady Monarchs to gain possession.
Nuzzo went to the line, missing her first shot, but connecting on the second to give Old Dominion a three-point cushion with 25 seconds left. The Seahawks' came down the court needing a three to potentially send the game into overtime, but Whitney Simmon's jumper was off its mark. Sophomore Shadasia Green (Patterson, N.J.) grabbed the board and was fouled. The second year Lady Monarch, who entered the game shooting just 55 percent from the charity stripe and was 1-of-3 from the line on the day, iced both free throws to send the Lady Monarch to Saturday's semifinal match-up with top-seeded Drexel.
Canady, a Second Team All-CAA pick, led all scorers and was the lone Lady Monarch with 21 points. The junior Lady Monarch also added a game-high 13 rebounds for her ninth double-double of the 2008-09 season.
Third-team All-CAA selection Greta Luksyte led the Seahawks with 16 points, followed by Blackwell with 13, and Simmons with 10.
Old Dominion will take on top-seeded Drexel in the tournament semifinals. Game time is at noon. The game will be webstreamed live at www.caasports.com and aired on the Comcast Network. Check your local listings.