BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – The No. 5 seeded Old Dominion Lady Monarchs (19-11, 11-7) ended up being too much for No. 12 seeded Rice (9-21, 4-14) on Wednesday night by a score of 62-57 in the First Round of the 2015 Conference USA Tournament at Bartow Arena in Birmingham, Alabama. Jennie Simms led all scorers, netting 19 points to compliment a team-high eight rebounds in 38 minutes of work. ODU will take on No. 4 seeded UTSA tomorrow at 8:30 p.m. EST.
Odegua Oigbokie tied her career high of 12 points and hauled down four rebounds. Tiffany Minor poured in 10 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists, while Destinee Young finished with six points and six boards.
Old Dominion won the battle of the boards, 47-33. The Lady Monarchs held a 25-8 advantage for second chance points.
Rice cut its deficit down to just one point, 58-57, with 2:45 remaining in regulation off a Shani Rainey made layup. Ashley Betz-White then made a steal and made a layup of her own to give ODU a 60-57 lead with 1:48 to play.
With 26.1 left in the ballgame, Jennie Simms knocked down both her free-throws to give the Lady Monarchs a 61-57 lead. ODU then forced a Rice turnover before securing the win, in a contest which experienced eight ties, as well as eight lead changes.
The Lady Monarchs jumped out to a 15-9 lead by the second media timeout of the first half, which occurred at the 11:57 mark. Rice stormed back, using an 8-0 run over a 2:07 span to take a 25-19 advantage before Tiffany Minor drilled a three to put a halt to the Owls run, bringing the score to 25-22.
ODU then forced Rice to miss seven of its last nine field goal attempts to end the first half, as the Owls held onto a 34-32 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime.
In a first half which experienced five lead changes and three ties, Jasmine Goodwine led all scorers at the half with 11 points to compliment five rebounds. Leading the way for the Lady Monarchs in the first half was Destinee Young’s six points. Annika Holopainen, Ije Ajemba and Odegua Oigbokie each scored four points in the opening 20 minutes, respectively. Tiffany Minor dished out a half-high four assists to go along with three points and three rebounds. ODU’s bench outscored Rice’s 14-7 in the first half.
By the first media timeout of the second half (14:24), Rice held onto a 42-40 lead, before the Lady Monarchs stormed back taking a 48-43 at the 11:49 mark. The Owls answered back, using a 7-2 run to tie the ballgame at 50 apiece, respectively.
At the under-eight media timeout (7:02), the ballgame remained all tied up at 54-54. By the final media timeout of the contest, Old Dominion held onto a 58-55 advantage with 3:27 remaining in regulation, before claiming a 62-57 win on Wednesday night.
NEXT UP FOR THE LADY MONARCHS
No. 5 seeded Old Dominion will be right back in action tomorrow night at 8:30 EST against No. 4 seeded UTSA.
The Roadrunners won the first meeting between the two schools by a score of 52-51 on Feb. 12 in Norfolk, Va.
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