MURFREESBORO, Tenn. – Ebony Rowe led all scorers with 17 points on her record setting day to lead Middle Tennessee (17-3, 6-0) past the Old Dominion University women’s basketball team (9-11, 2-4), 62-49, on Saturday at the Murphy Center in front of a crowd of 3,806.
Head coach Karen Barefoot said after the game, "I really feel like we gave a great effort, especially defensively. We never quit and continued to battle throughout the game. I was extremely pleased with our effort and heart today. Our mistakes are fixable. We must stay together, continue to work hard and improve every day, so that we can be playing our best basketball come March."
With the victory, Middle Tennessee is now on a 16 game winning streak, which currently ranks No. 4 in nation; only UCONN, Notre Dame and Stanford have longer winning streaks than the Blue Raiders.
At the 5:49 mark in the first half, MT senior Ebony Rowe knocked down both of her free-throws, giving her eight points as well as the school’s all-time leading scoring record. Entering Saturday’s game, Rowe needed just eight points to surpass a 27-year old record previously held by Kim Webb, who tallied 2,148 points throughout her career at Middle Tennessee.
With 5:50 to play in the second half, the Lady Monarchs trailed by 16 before making a run and cutting their deficit down to just nine points at the 3:57 mark. MT’s Shanice Cason responded with a three-pointer to stop the Blue Raiders’ bleeding and would go onto win by 13 points.
ODU’s senior co-captain, Stephanie Gardner led the way for the Lady Monarchs with nine points. Shae Kelley, who was hampered by foul trouble throughout the game, netted eight points to go along with four rebounds. Galaisha Goodhope also tallied eight points, and led Old Dominion on the boards with nine rebounds. Senior Shakeva Richards sparked ODU off the bench shooting 3-4 from the floor and scoring six points to go with four rebounds in 18 minutes of work. Also scoring six points on 3-4 shooting was freshman Odegua Oigbokie.
Besides Rowe, Caroline Warden (13 points, 5-6 FG) and KeKe Stewart (11 points) also scored in double figures for the Blue Raiders on Saturday.
Old Dominion held Middle Tenn. to 34.4% shooting for the game and 27.6% (8-29) from the three-point line. The Blue Raiders’ 34.4% from the field is their fourth lowest shooting performance this season. The Lady Monarchs were 66.7% from the floor and 50% from three in the second half. For the game, ODU hit 48.9% of their field-goal attempts and 33.3% (2-6) from downtown. The Lady Monarchs were also a perfect 100% (3-3) from the free-throw line, while MT went 12-18 for 66.7% from the charity stripe.
First Half Notes
Middle Tennessee jumped out to a 10-6 advantage by the first media timeout (14:19) of the ballgame, then led 12-8 at the second media timeout (11:21). At the 7:44 mark, the game remained low scoring with MT leading 14-12.
The Blue Raiders knocked down two consecutive three-pointers to stretch their advantage to 20-12 before Ebony Rowe became the school’s all-time leading scorer with 5:44 showing on the game-clock. MT would take a 26-18 lead into the locker rooms.
At the half, the record setter, Rowe, led all scorers with 10 points to go along with six boards. Also with six rebounds was ODU’s sophomore Galaisha Goodhope to compliment her six points, which led Old Dominion.
For the half neither team shot the ball particularly well; Middle Tenn. connected on 29% of the field-goal attempts, while the Lady Monarchs were 33% from the floor.
Next Up for the Lady Monarchs
Old Dominion will remain on the road for their next context against East Carolina University in Greenville, N.C. on Wednesday, January 29 at 7:00 p.m.
Key Dates
Saturday, Feb. 1 - vs. Marshall - 7:00 p.m. (Barefoot Night)
Saturday, Feb 15 - vs. UTEP - 7:00 p.m. (Hoops for a Cure)
Next Karen Barefoot Coach’s Show
The next Coach’s Show will be Monday, Jan. 27, at 7 p.m. at YNot Pizza and Italian Cuisine in the University Village, hosted by the Voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley, on ESPN Radio 94.1.
Be sure to follow ODU Women’s Basketball at @ODUWBB on Twitter and ‘Like’ the ODU Lady Monarch Basketball page by clicking HERE to stay up to date with the latest news and coverage.
Middle Tenn. Defeats Lady Monarchs 62-49 in Hard Fought Battle
