March 16, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - Loyola's Katie Sheahin hit a three-pointer with 3.1 seconds remaining in the game to hand the Lady Monarchs a 67-65 loss in the first round of the Women's NIT Wednesday evening at the Ted Constant Convocation Center. Old Dominion ends the season 20-11 overall.
Junior Tia Lewis led the Lady Monarchs with 18 points, eight rebounds and four steals. Sophomore Jackie Cook came off the bench to score 11, while senior Jasmine Parker dished out six assists to move into the Top 10 all-time at ODU in the category.
Sheahin, who connected on the game winning shot, tallied a career-high 27 points to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. The Greyhounds, who improve to 21-12 overall, will face the winner of tomorrow's Virginia/Morgan State game in the WNIT Second Round.
Loyola scored the first five points of the second half to increase its lead to seven (36-29), the Greyhounds largest advantage of the game. Old Dominion immediately responded with seven consecutive points to tie the score at 36 just 2:47 into the second period.
From that point no team led by more than five the rest of the way. The second half alone featured seven ties and eight lead changes.
Trailing by just one, senior Shadasia Green drilled a jumper to put ODU up 65-64 with a minute to play. After both squads failed to convert on their next possession, Loyola had the ball on its end and called a timeout with 20 seconds remaining.
After the inbounds pass, the Greyhounds got the ball into the hands of Sheahin and she dribbled around a double team on the perimeter. With time quickly ticking away, the sophomore faded away from well behind the three-point arc and drilled the game-winnner with just over three seconds remaining.
The Lady Monarchs would have one final opportunity to tie the game or take the lead, but Parker's deep shot attempt bounced off the backboard as the buzzer sounded.
-ODU-