NORFOLK, Va. – Old Dominion (16-10, 9-6) shot a season best 56.5% from the floor while Chelisa Painter had a career day in the Lady Monarchs 83-68 victory over Rice (8-18, 3-12) on Thursday afternoon at the Ted Constant Convocation Center.
Chelisa Painter led the way for the Lady Monarchs on Thursday after drilling her first nine shots from the floor, turning in career highs in three different departments: 25 points, six assists and four steals to compliment her eight rebounds in 25 minutes of action.
Jennie Simms followed, netting 17 points while hauling down 10 rebounds. The double-double is Simms’ eighth of the season. Tiffany Minor scored all nine of her points from deep, to go along with 10 rebounds and four assists.
For the game, the Lady Monarchs outscored the Owls 54-30 in the paint and 18-4 on fast-breaks.
Old Dominion jumped out of the gates, taking a 14-6 lead at the first media timeout, before extending its advantage to 21-11 at the 11:56 mark, with 12 of ODU’s 21 points coming from within the paint.
The Lady Monarchs held onto their 10-point lead (29-19) with 6:36 remaining in the opening 20 minutes of action, as Jennie Simms got off to a hot start, scoring 10 points on 4-6 shooting from the floor to lead all scorers.
After connecting on four of its last five field goals, ODU led the Owls 34-21 at the last media timeout of the first half (3:49), holding a 22-4 advantage for points in the paint. In a first half which experienced one tie and one lead change, the Lady Monarchs possessed a 45-32 heading into the locker rooms at halftime.
Old Dominion shot 62.5% from the floor in the first half, connecting on 20-32 from the floor. Simms led all scorers at the break with 12 points, while Chelisa Painter followed with eight points and a half-high five rebounds. The Owls played 15 players in the first and were led by Christal Porter’s eight points and five boards.
The Lady Monarchs held tight to its 13 point advantage throughout the first four minutes of the second half, leading 49-36, after Rice started the half hitting just one of its eight attempts from the floor. Old Dominion extended the lead to 18 points (64-46) on a Tiffany Minor made three-pointer with 10:47 remaining in regulation.
The Owls would trim their deficit down to 12 (70-58) at the 6:00 minute mark and then again at the 4:50 mark (72-60), but in the end, Old Dominion was too much for Rice, in the 83-68 win on Thursday afternoon at the Ted.
For the game, ODU shot 56.5% (35-62) from the floor, 25% (5-20) from deep and 47.1% (8-17) from the charity stripe. Rice connected on 36% (27-75), 33.3% (5-15) from three and 45% (9-20) from the free-throw line.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Thursday’s contest was originally scheduled for 11:00 a.m. due to the program’s first ever Field Trip Day, which was from an outgrowth of the popularity of the Lady Monarchs annual Education Day, a partnership with Norfolk Public Schools. However, inclement weather and adverse travel conditions caused the schools in the surrounding areas to have to cancel.
Elementary school children from any of the 13 Hampton Roads school districts, as well as private schools were expected to be on hand before mother nature got in the way. Students from 18 schools were expected to be on-hand from a wide-range of cities throughout Hampton Roads, including Suffolk, Portsmouth, Virginia Beach, Newport News, Hampton, Wakefield and Norfolk.
NEXT UP FOR THE MONARCHS
Old Dominion will be back in action at home this Saturday for SENIOR DAY, in which Tiffany Minor and Chelisa Painter will be honored prior to tipoff. The Lady Monarchs will then take on North Texas, with tipoff slated for 1:00
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.