NORFOLK, Va. – The Lady Monarchs' women’s basketball team (18-15, 9-7) has advanced to the second round of the WNIT basketball tournament with a win over Navy on Thursday (68-60) and will face Auburn of the SEC on Monday, March 24 in Montgomery, AL. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. (EST), and the game can be heard on STAR 1310 AM in the Hampton Roads area. To view the live stream of the game, click AuburnTigers.com/allaccess. There is a $9.95 fee to view.
ABOUT AUBURN
Auburn defeated Furman 78-64 on Thursday night in their opening WNIT round in Montomery, AL. The Lady Tigers were led by sister act Tyrese Tanner (sr.) and Tra'Cee Tanner (soph), who poured in 17 points each. Freshman Khady Kiery tossed in 16 points off the bench, 11 of those coming in the second half.
Auburn is 18-14 on the year, and fell in the quarterfinals of the SEC tournament to Texas A&M, 86-54. The Lady Tigers posted a 7-9 record in SEC regular season play. They are 10-5 on their home court this season.
Tyrese Tanner became the 10th all-time leading scorer in Auburn history on Thursday, and now owns a career tally of 1,480 points.
FORMER TEAMMATES - NOW OPPONENTS
Two Lady Monarchs were teammates of members of the Auburn Squad. ODU freshman forward Odegua Oigbokie was a high school teammate at Ridgeway HIgh School in Memphis of Auburn junior guard Hasina Muhammad, and junior forward Shae Kelly was a college teammate of Tiger junior guard Kiani Parker at NW Florida.
THE COACHING HISTORY
ODU head coach Karen Barefoot and Auburn coach Terri Williams-Flournoy are no strangers, both hailing from the Peninsula region of Virginia and former high school opponents. Barefoot was a freshman at Menchville High School (Newport News, VA) where she matched up against Williams-Flourney, who was a senior at Phoebus High School (Hampton, VA).
Additionally, Barefoot played several years of AAU club ball under legendary AAU guru Boo Williams, the brother of Wiliams-Flournoy.
THE TEAM SERIES
The last time these two school met was in the 2003-04 season on a neutral court at the WBCA Pre-Season Classic, where Auburn deafed the Lady Monarchs 84-49. Auburn holds a slim 3-2 margin in the series, which began in 1983.
Old Dominion in the WNIT
The Lady Monarchs are making their 21st postseason appearance in the past 23 years by participating in the WNIT for the sixth time in school history. This is the fourth appearance in the WNIT in the last five years for Old Dominion.
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 SURPASSES 1,000 MARK
Shae Kelley surpassed the 1,000 career scoring mark on Thursday vs. Navy, becoming just the fifth Lady Monarch to do so in just two years. She completed the game with 22 points overall, and 13 rebounds, which marks her 17th double-double of the season. Kelly now has 1,013 career points and is the 31st Lady Monarch to surpass 1,000 points. .
NEXT UP
The winner of Monday's contest will face the winner of the Southern Miss at Mississippi State contest, also being played Monday night. The third round games are slated to be played March 26-28.
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 averaged 2,884 fans per contest in the regular season, which was second in Conference USA and No. 38 in the country.
Protecting the Ted
-The Lady Monarchs hold a 10-5 record at home after Thursday's WNIT victory.
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:
STAR 1310 in Hampton Roads
Broadcast will include a pre- and postgame show!
Monday's game will be aired live with the Voice of the Lady Monarchs, Doug Ripley on the call! Doug’s radio broadcast will begin live at 6:30 p.m. EST from Auburn.
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 9 of their last 12 contests before entering Monday's WNIT game.
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 home. So. Miss. broke the CUSA record with most home wins this season and have advanced to the second round of the WNIT as well.
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
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