Jan. 6, 2011
NORFOLK, Va. - Junior Tia Lewis registered a career-high tying 24 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead Old Dominion past George Mason, 70-66, in the Lady Monarchs home Colonial Athletic Association opener Thursday evening at the Ted Constant Center.
Lewis, who has scored in double figures in each of her last five games, now has a team-high five double-doubles on the year. Senior Jasmine Parker netted 12 points for her 12th double-digit scoring effort of the season and classmate Alena Voronina tallied 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting.
Old Dominion, which has won four of its last five games, improves to 8-5 overall and 2-0 in CAA play. The Lady Monarchs also move to 25-0 all-time against George Mason on their home floor.
The Patriots saw their five-game winning streak snapped as they fall to 7-6 on the year and 1-1 in league action. Brittany Poindexter led Mason with 20 points, while Taleia Moton posted 17.
Old Dominion shot 49 percent from the field, its second best shooting game of the season, only trailing the 52.1 percent the Lady Monarchs shot at Towson in their last outing. Mason shot 38.2 percent from the field, but just 3-of-15 from beyond the arc against an ODU three-point defense that ranks No. 1 nationally.
George Mason scored the first six points of the game en route to taking a 14-3 lead just over four minutes into the game. After the squads exchanged bucks, Old Dominion roared back and took the lead with a 20-1 run. Lewis capped the Lady Monarch spurt with a fast break lay-in that put ODU up 26-17 midway through the half.
A Shadasia Green field goal put the Lady Monarchs up 32-25 at the 3:17 mark, but the Patriots closed the half on an 8-2 run to go into the break down only one.
George Mason took its only lead of the second half at 40-38, but it was short-lived as Lewis scored five quick points for ODU. The Patriots got back to within one midway through the half at 45-44, but the Lady Monarchs pulled away again, going on a 9-2 run to take a 54-46 lead. Parker netted five of the nine points during the spurt, including her second three-point field goal of the game to cap it.
The Patriots would get no closer than four the rest of the way as ODU iced the game with a pair of free throws from Kquanise Byrd and one from Parker.
The Lady Monarchs remain home Sunday for a pivotal early season CAA showdown against James Madison. The contest will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic Plus, CSN New England and The Comcast Network Philadelphia. It will also be aired on tape delay on CSN Mid-Atlantic at 5 p.m. that same day. Al Koken and Jody Lavin Patrick will be doing the play-by-play and color, respectively.
-ODU-