NORFOLK, Va. – The Old Dominion University women’s basketball team (17-15, 9-7) will square-off with the Naval Academy (24-7, 15-3) on Thursday, March 20, at the Ted Constant Convocation Center in the First Round of the Women’s National Invitational Tournament (WNIT).
The Lady Monarchs will be making their 21st postseason appearance in the past 23 years by participating in the WNIT for the sixth time in school history. This will be the fourth appearance in the WNIT in the last five years for Old Dominion.
Thursday's game will be the first meeting between the schools.
The winner of Thursday's game between Navy and ODU will face the winner of the Furman at Auburn game in the second round on a date and at a site to be determined after the first round.
Old Dominion in the WNIT
1976-77 - Lost in semifinals to Mississippi College 91-88
1977-78- Champions (70-60 win over Texas)
2009-10 - Advanced to Second Round (defeated American 63-55; lost to Providence 76-61)
2010-11- Lost to Loyola (Md) in first round 67-65
2012-13- Lost to Davidson in first round, 82-73
Shae Kelley is Creeping Towards Lady Monarch History
Shae Kelley has scored 991 points over her first two seasons at Old Dominion, which puts her just 9 points away from becoming only the fifth player in school history to obtain 1,000 points in their first two seasons in a Lady Monarch’s uniform. Anne Donovan, Inge Nissen, Nancy Lieberman and Clarisse Machanguana are the only four Lady Monarch players to ever obtain this feat.
About Navy
The highest placing team in the final regular season standings in each of the 32 conferences that is not invited to the NCAA Tournament receives an automatic berth into the WNIT. The Mids garnered the Patriot League's automatic berth by earning the first league regular season title in school history with a 15-3 record in league games. Navy is one of 10 regular season champions and one of 35 teams with at least 20 victories playing in the 64-team field.
Tickets
The first 200 students will receive FREE ADMISSION! After the first 200 students tickets are distributed, tickets for the remaining students are $5.
All tickets are general admission for $7 each. Tickets are on sale now at www.Ynottix.com, by calling 1-877-Ynottix, or in person at the Ted Constant Center ticket office.
Be sure to visit: http://www.womensnit.com/for MORE INFORMATION!
--- A LOOK BACK AT THE LADY MONARCH’S 2013-14 REGULAR SEASON ---
Attendance
-Old Dominion currently averages 2,884 fans per contest, which is second in Conference USA and No. 38 in the country.
Protecting the Ted
-The Lady Monarchs finished the season 10-4 while playing at home.
Shae Kelley Named to First Team All-Conference USA
On March 9, Conference USA officials announced that ODU’s junior forward, Shae Kelley, had been named to the All-Conference USA First Team. Joining Kelley on the First Team were: Jada Payne (So., G, East Carolina), Jerica Coley (Sr., PG, FIU), Ebony Rowe (Sr., F, Middle Tennessee), Jessica Kuster, (Sr., F, Rice), Jamierra Faulkner (Sr., PG, Southern Miss), Karisma Chapman (Sr., F, UAB) and Kayla Thornton (Sr., F, UTEP).
Galaisha Goodhope Garners All-Conference USA Academic Team Honors
Galaisha Goodhope was named one of just five members to the Conference USA All-Academic Team. Goodhope is the only underclassman to garner this prestigious honor.
Joining Goodhope on the 2014 Conference USA All-Academic team are Academic All-Americans Ebony Rowe of Middle Tennessee and FIU's Jerica Coley, as well as FAU’s senior Kimberley Smith and junior Jamie Kaplan of Tulane.
In order to be eligible for the distinction, nominees must hold a minimum 3.2 cumulative grade point average, be a starter or key reserve for their team and at least be of sophomore academic standing.
Karen Barefoot Claims Win No. 250
When the Lady Monarchs defeated Marshall 65-52 in overtime on February 1, at the Ted Constant Center, the victory gave ODU head coach, Karen Barefoot, 250 career wins.
ODU's Recruiting Class Nationally Ranked No. 43
The All Star Girls Report has released their top 115 schools’ incoming recruiting classes for 2014 and has ranked the Old Dominion University women’s basketball team No. 43, which is the top ranked team in Conference USA.
LADY MONARCH RECRUITING CLASS IN ALL
Transfers
Annika Holopainen, (Portland transfer), 6’1, F
Jennie Simms, No. 62 (West Virginia transfer), 6’0, F
From High School
Keyana Brown, No. 284, 5’11, G
Auteaonna Gilmore, No. 114, 5’8 PG
Maia Lee, No. 225, 6’3, C
MULTIMEDIA
Radio:
ESPN Radio 94.1 in Hampton Roads
Broadcast will include a pre- and postgame show!
Thurday’s game will be aired live with the 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 live at 6:30 p.m. EST from the Ted Constant Center.
Monarch All Access
Watch the game live at www.odusports.com.
Old Dominion’s Improvements From Last Season to this Season
2012-13
Strength of schedule 192
RPI 139
2013-2014
Strength of schedule 111
RPI 130… up 42 spots in the last 5 weeks (since 2/10), tied for 13th biggest jump in that time span in the country.
SOS: +81
RPI: +10
2013-14 Conference RPI
(Comparison)
C-USA 10
CAA 13
NOTES
2012-13
The Lady Monarchs lost 5 of their last 8 ballgames before the WNIT
2013-14
Old Dominion has won last 8 of their last 11 contests before entering the WNIT.
Out of 16 teams in the C-USA, ODU finished the regular season with the third longest active winning streak in league play.
The Lady Monarchs were the only team to beat Southern Miss at their place. So. Miss. broke the CUSA record with most home wins this season.
Postseason WNIT Tournament Overview
The Women's National Invitation Tournament is an annual tournament involving 64 of the nation's top women's Division I basketball teams. All games, including the semifinals and championship, are hosted by participating schools. Every round is single elimination.
Format of the WNIT
The Postseason WNIT features 32 first-round games, followed by 16 second-round games, eight third-round games, four quarterfinal games, two semifinal games, and the championship. The championship game is televised live nationally. The event offers 32 automatic berths, one to each established conference, and 32 at-large berths. The WNIT field and bracket is announced late on the evening of the NCAA Tournament selections.
2014 Postseason WNIT
The WNIT is committed to offering deserved opportunities to women’s basketball programs, and the 2014 Postseason WNIT features a full 64-team bracket.
The WNIT offers teams an opportunity to get more practices in, to experience playoff-atmosphere games, to play in front of passionate fans, and to use their WNIT success as a springboard to the next season.
2014 WNIT Dates
Selection – Monday, March 17.
Round 1 – March 19-21.
Round 2 – March 22-25.
Round 3 – March 26-28.
Round 4 – March 29-31.
Semifinals – April 2-3.
Championship – Saturday, April 5, 3 p.m. ET.
Tournament History
The Postseason Women's National Invitation Tournament began in 1998 with 16 teams playing for a postseason crown. The event has undergone four expansions throughout which its mission has remained the same: To give deserving teams a quality opportunity to play exciting games for a postseason title.
Following the inaugural year, the field doubled to 32 teams and remained that way until 2006 when a renewed commitment was made to schools. The WNIT expanded to a 40-team field to give spots to teams that won their regular-season conference title but did not win their conference tournament and therefore were excluded from the NCAA Tournament.
The WNIT furthered that commitment to conferences in 2007, when it expanded to 48 teams and awarded an automatic berth to each conference. The number of at-large berths remained at 17 until 2010, when the WNIT felt that the level of women’s basketball warranted an expansion to the 64-team field.
Did you know??
The Postseason WNIT is the longest current running postseason event for women’s college basketball, in addition to the NCAA Tournament.
Past Champions
2013 – Drexel
2012 – Oklahoma State
2011 – Toledo
2010 – California
2009 – South Florida
2008 – Marquette
2007 – Wyoming
2006 – Kansas State
2005 – Missouri State
2004 – Creighton
2003 – Auburn
2002 – Oregon
2001 – Ohio State
2000 – Wisconsin
1999 – Arkansas
1998 – Penn State
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.