Houston, Texas – Shae Kelley recorded a career high of 30 points to go along with her 10 rebounds to lead three Lady Monarchs in double figures in Old Dominion’s 85-49 route of the Rice Owls on Wednesday night at the Tudor Fieldhouse. In what was the first ever meeting between the Old Dominion University women’s basketball team and Rice University (11-14, 4-8), the Lady Monarchs (12-14, 5-7) never trailed.
Old Dominion head coach Karen Barefoot said after the game, “We really played with incredible energy and focus tonight. It was 40 minutes of great effort on both ends of the floor. I am extremely proud of this team. We want to bottle this game and continue this energy and intensity. Our communication was outstanding tonight and the players that came off the bench were very aggressive.”
Joining Kelley was Chelisa Painter, who also recorded a double-double on Wednesday night as Painter netted 17 points and hauled down 12 rebounds.
The Lady Monarchs got off to a hot start in the game’s opening minutes, jumping out to a 14-2 lead at the first media timeout (15:20) behind four points and four rebounds from freshman Odegua Oigbokie.
Old Dominion expanded their advantage to 32-12 with just over eight minutes to play in the first half, holding the Owls to just 33% shooting from the floor. By the final media timeout of the opening half, ODU stretched their lead to 40-14.
At halftime, the Lady Monarchs held a 49-16 lead over the Owls, while Shae Kelley nearly outscored the entire Rice team, as she led all scorers with 14 points. A total of 11 different Lady Monarchs checked in during the first half, while eight of those 11 players made their presence felt in the scoring column.
Rice's 16 points was the lowest point total by an ODU opponent in a first half this season (Old Dominion also held Radford to 16 points in the second half on Nov. 17 at the Ted Constant Convocation Center).
At the half, ODU shot a blistering 53.1% (17-32) from the floor, 60% (3-5) from three and 80% (12-15) from the free-throw line. The Lady Monarchs held Rice to just 25% (8-32) from the floor, 0% (0-6) from downtown & 0% (0-2) from the charity stripe in the first 20 minutes of action.
With 12:50 remaining in the second half, the Lady Monarchs expanded their advantage to 43 points (67-24), which was the largest lead of the ballgame. In the first 10 minutes of the second half, Old Dominion outscored the Owls 28-12, as ODU held a 67-28 advantage with 9:58 remaining in regulation.
Old Dominion never looked back and went on to claim victory by 36 points, in their 85-49 victory over Rice.
Also in double-figures for the Lady Monarchs was Tiffany Minor with 13 points and nine rebounds. Galaisha Goodhope posted nine points in 20 minutes of action.
Leading the way for Rice was Jessica Kuster with 29 points and 10 rebounds, while teammate Megan Palmer scored 13 points and grabbed seven for the Owls.
Old Dominion dominated the boards, holding a 53-31 advantage in that department. ODU also held advantages in assists (19-9), steals (11-5), points in the paint (42-29), points off turnovers (24-11), bench points (21-5), second chance points (15-5) and fast-break points (10-4).
For the game, the Lady Monarchs used 46.3% (31-67) from the floor, 35.7% (5-14) from three and 78.3% (18-23) from the charity stripe. Rice hit on 31.7% (20-63) of their field-goal attempts, 8.3% (1-12) from downtown and 66.7% (8-12) from the FT line.
Next Up for the Lady Monarchs
The Old Dominion women’s basketball team will remain on the road in Texas for their next game against the Roadrunners from UTSA in San Antonio. Tipoff is slated for 8:00 p.m. EST/7:00 p.m. CST. Saturday night’s broadcast will be aired live on STAR 1310 Radio with Voice of the Lady Monarchs Doug Ripley on the play-by-play call and former Lady Monarch assistant coach, Susan Montgomery handling color duties. Doug and Susan’s radio broadcast will begin at 7:30 p.m. EST/6:30 p.m. CST.
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