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NORFOLK, Va. - The Old Dominion University women's basketball team fell in a tightly contested back-and-forth affair against Pittsburgh, 55-54, on Wednesday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in their final non-conference game of the season.
After trailing by as many as nine points in the first half and facing a 23-18 halftime deficit, ODU was able to go on a 23-8 run in the first 11 minutes of the second half, a run that included 14-0 at one point.
Pittsburgh (9-4) was able to sustain the run that saw Old Dominion (9-3) up 10 points with less than nine minutes to play as the Panthers closed the game on a 24-13 run of their own and held on for the one-point victory despite a late rally by ODU which came up just short.
The Lady Monarchs forced 20 Panther turnovers which makes it the ninth team in 12 games this season an opponents has turned it over 20 or more times. Pittsburgh held the slight edge in rebound (41-36) while converting on 14 of their 16 free throws (.875) while ODU was just 12-for-23 (.522) at the charity stripe.
Sophomore Shae Kelley powered the ODU offense as she scored 17 points and grabbed eight rebounds along with a career-high seven steals and added three assists and two blocks in 35 minutes of action. It is the eighth time in 12 games this season that Kelley has scored in double figures.
Asia Logan powered the Pittsburgh attack with her fifth double-double of the year as she had a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds to go with two steals and a block. Brianna Kiesel added 19 points, three assists and two steals for the Panthers.
Redshirt senior Mairi Buchan added nine points and four rebounds while freshman Galaisha Goodhope poured in eight points and two assists off the bench for Old Dominion. Junior Michelle Brandao saw her first action in an ODU uniform as she gathered an assist and a steal in five minutes off the bench.
Old Dominion opens conference play on Sunday afternoon in Atlanta when they face Georgia State at the GSU Sports Arena at 2 p.m. Live stats and radio broadcast will be available.
Follow Old Dominion women's basketball on Twitter at twitter.com/ODUWBB and find them on Facebook at facebook.com/LadyMonarchsWBB.