Feb. 24, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - Junior Tia Lewis posted a game-high 17 points and hauled in nine rebounds to lead Old Dominion to a hard-fought 70-65 victory over intrastate rival William & Mary Thursday evening at the Ted Constant Center.
William & Mary trailed by just one with a minute to play, but sophomore Jo Guilford hit a jumper, swiped a steal and blocked a shot, all in the final minute to push Old Dominion (19-8, 13-3 CAA) to its fifth consecutive home win. Guilford, who was just two points shy of her career-high, posted 10 of her 11 points in the second half.
The Lady Monarchs, who have already clinched a first round bye in the upcoming Colonial Athletic Association Tournament, remain tied with UNC Wilmington for second in the league standings.
William & Mary (3-23, 2-14 CAA), which had lost back-to-back overtime games to Delaware and Drexel prior to beating Georgia State by 10 last Sunday, has now lost 52 consecutive games to Old Dominion.
Senior Jasmine Parker scored 16 and classmate Alena Voronina chipped in 10 to join Lewis and Guilford in double-figures for the Lady Monarchs. Parker dished out a game-high six assists and senior Shadasia Green grabbed a career-high tying 12 rebounds in the win.
ODU controlled the glass all night, holding a 43-33 rebounding advantage, and turned that into a 15-7 edge in second chance points.
William & Mary was once again led by guard Taysha Pye, who ended the game with a team-high 17 points on 5-of-15 shooting. The junior, who scored 29 points in the first meeting between the squads in late January, netted seven points from the free throw line.
The Lady Monarchs led by as many as 14 in the first half, but the Tribe scored the final five points of the opening stanza to go into halftime trailing just 34-27.
William & Mary carried that momentum into the second half and scored 10 of the first 13 points in the period to tie the game at the 16:04 mark. The Tribe led by one, 58-57, with just under eight minutes remaining, but an 8-2 ODU spurt over the next 3:35 would give the Lady Monarchs the lead for good.
Old Dominion played tonight's game without starting point guard Kquanise Byrd, who suffered a concussion in ODU's win at Hofstra Sunday.
Old Dominion next hosts Delaware in its home finale on Sunday at 3 p.m. The contest will be televised live on Comcast SportsNet and the four Lady Monarch seniors will be honored pre-game.
-ODU-