March 14, 2009
HARRISONBURG, Va. (AP) -Old Dominion's NCAA-record reign at the top of the Colonial Athletic Association has ended after 17 consecutive seasons.
Top-seeded Drexel got 20 points from CAA player of the year Gabriela Marginean on Saturday and beat the Lady Monarchs 62-41 in the semifinals of the league tournament. It is the first loss for Old Dominion in 52 CAA tournament games since it joined the league in 1991-92.
The Dragons (23-8) went ahead to stay when two free throws by Marginean gave them a 14-13 lead with 6:48 left in the first half. They led by as many as 12 on their way to possibly becoming the first team since Richmond in 1990-91 to win the tournament and its automatic NCAA bid.
The Lady Monarchs were led by Jasmine Parker (Norfolk, Va.) with 14 points and Jessica Canady (Williamsburg, Va.) with 11, but they shot just 26 percent.
Old Dominion spent the last eight minutes of the first half without its two top scorers. Tiffany Green (Chesapeake, Va.) and Canady sat on the bench with two fouls apiece, while Drexel built up a seven point lead. Canady had collected eight points midway through the opening stanza accounting for over half the Old Dominion total to that point. Ahead 13-8 after Canady collected her second foul, the Dragons kept the Lady Monarchs scoreless for nearly a five minute stretch and proceeded to take at 9-0 run to take over the lead, one which they would not relinquish.
Down 26-19 with only second remaining, Parker came off the a screen and caught Jen Nuzzo's (Newport News, Va.) inbounds pass to loft a last second three to send the Lady Monarchs into the lockeroom trailing just, 26-22.
The Dragons kicked off the second half with a 10-2 run and mounted a 12-point advantage with 16:41 remaining in the game, leading 36-24. The Lady Monarchs got no closer than seven in the second half.
They were outrebounded 37-30 and committed 21 turnovers that led to 18 Drexel points.
Jasmina Rosseel added 12 points and Nicole Hester had 10 for Drexel, which will play the winner of the second semifinal between James Madison and Virginia Commonwealth on Sunday.
Old Dominion will play the waiting game now. The Lady Monarchs will wait until Monday night to see if it receives an invitation to the WNIT.