March 15, 2011
FORT COLLINS, Colo. - Old Dominion women's basketball will be making its 19th postseason appearance in the last 20 years as the Lady Monarchs were selected to compete in the Women's National Invitation Tournament (WNIT). The Lady Monarchs, who finished second in the Colonial Athletic Association and won 20 games for the 29th time in program history this year, will take on Loyola-Maryland at the Ted Constant Convocation Center Wednesday at 7 p.m.
Tickets for the first round game will go on sale starting at 10:00 a.m. on Tuesday at the ODU Box Office. Adult tickets will cost $10, youth tickets will be $7 and groups of 10 or more will get in for just $5. All seats will be general admission.
"We're pleased that we're playing a post-season game at home," said Lady Monarch head coach Wendy Larry.
Old Dominion, which has qualified for 25 NCAA Tournaments, will be making just its second appearance in the WNIT. The Lady Monarchs advanced to the second round of the WNIT in 2010 before falling at BIG EAST foe Providence.
Loyola-Maryland (20-12) is an automatic qualifier from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and will be making the programs first WNIT appearance. The Greyhounds finished second in the MAAC regular season standings and fell to No. 18 Marist, 63-45, in the leagues championship game.
Old Dominion (20-10) is led by All-CAA selections Jasmine Parker and Tia Lewis. Parker, who was named Second Team All-CAA and the league's Defensive Player of the Year, averages a team-high 12 points and has swiped 3.2 steals per game, which ranks sixth nationally. Lewis, an All-CAA Third Team pick, averages 11.9 points a game and pulls down a team-high 7.8 rebounds a contest.
This year's field features five teams from each of the Southeastern, Colonial and Atlantic 10 Conferences, and four from the Missouri Valley and Mid American. The Pac-10, Conference USA, Big 10, Mountain West, Big West and Big 12 all have three teams in the field.
The winner of the ODU/Loyola-Maryland matchup will face the winner of the Virginia/Morgan State first round contest played Thursday in Charlottesville.
-ODU-