Jan. 21, 2010
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NORFOLK, Va. - A Shadasia Green jumper from just inside the free throw line broke a tie with 21 seconds remaining to lift the Lady Monarchs to a 58-54 Colonial Athletic Association victory over Georgia State (11-6, 2-4)Thursday evening at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Senior Jessica Canady and sophomore Tia Lewis both recorded double-doubles for Old Dominion, which improves to 7-9 overall and 5-1 in league play.
Lewis recorded her fifth double-double of the year with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Canady posted her second in the last five games with a team-high 15 points and a game-high 14.
In the first half, ODU got 11 points and six rebounds from Canady, who continued her stellar league play this season with the first half effort, knocking down 5-of-6 shots. The Lady Monarchs struggled to create distance though, despite shooting 48.3% on 14-of-29 shooting.
Georgia State hung around for the bulk of the first period behind leading scorer Danyiell McKeller's shooting effort. ODU led by as many as seven in the first half, but McKeller kept the Panthers within striking distance, scoring 14 points on 7-of-16 shooting.
Old Dominion would go up by three out of a timeout with just 30 seconds remaining in the first and forced a turnover on the ensuing Georgia State possession with eight seconds remaining. The league's leading thieves, though, would steal the ball from the Lady Monarchs in the final seconds and erase the deficit on a buzzer-beating three from Brittany Graham. Graham's trey evened the score at 32 apiece at the break.
Returning to the floor, the two teams battled in a back-and-forth affair for the second half. The Lady Monarchs fell behind by four to the Panthers with 13:05 remaining on an Angelique Burtts fast break lay-in, but would score eight of the next ten points to re-take the lead. Canady's fast break layup off an assist from junior Shadasia Green would finish the run, giving ODU a 47-45 lead with 8:31 remaining.
Georgia State would not lead again, though they would tie the score four more times before the game was out, including a 54-54 tie after another layup from Burtts with 32 seconds remaining. After the make, Green banked in her go-ahead shot with 21 seconds remaining and drew Burtts' fifth foul.
Green would miss the free throw and Georgia State had an opportunity from leading scorer, McKeller, but it was off to the left and Lewis hauled in the most important of her 11 total rebounds. She was then fouled and sealed the victory by knocking down her two free-throws at the other end.
The Lady Monarchs struggled from long range, going just 1-for-12 on 3-pointers, but shot 41.5% from the field on 22-of-53 shooting. Canady collected eight rebounds in the second to set a new career-high in CAA play with 14 total rebounds.
The close matchup was tied 13 times as Georgia State shot 33.9% from the field on 20-of-59 shooting. The Panthers were led by McKeller, scoring 22 points on 10-of-23 shooting. She added six rebounds while Shay Rawls led the Georgia State team on the glass with 11 rebounds.
ODU escaped with the win, earning the program's 897th career victory and 97th in the Constant Center. The Lady Monarchs return to action this Sunday, January 24th at Towson University with tip set for 2:00 p.m.