BIRMINGHAM, Ala. – In the Quarterfinals of the Conference USA Tournament, No. 5 seeded Old Dominion (20-11, 11-7) took down No. 4 seeded UTSA (16-15, 11-7) by a score of 63-49 on Thursday night at Bartow Arena. Jennie Simms led the way, netting 27 points and hauling down nine boards. With the win, the Lady Monarchs advance to tomorrow’s Semifinals against the tournament’s No. 1 seed, Western Kentucky at 1:30 p.m. EST on CBS Sports Network.
This is the first trip to the semifinals of a conference tournament for ODU since the 2009-10 season, when they made it to the CAA finals in Harrisonburg. Old Dominion won its 20th game of the season on Thursday night, which is the first time since the 2010-11 season and 30th all-time occurrence. The Lady Monarchs outrebounded UTSA, 44-26. Chelisa Painter scored 17 points and grabbed six boards in the victory, while Destinee Young contributed four points and eight rebounds in 18 minutes of work. ODU dominated points in the paint, 36-24. This was only the fourth time this season that the Roadrunners had been held under 50 points. ODU connected on 48.9% from the floor for the ballgame, which is the third highest output against UTSA this season.
By the second media timeout of this first half, Old Dominion led UTSA, 8-6, with exactly 11 minutes remaining; Simms had four of ODU’s eight. The Lady Monarchs used a 6-0 run to take a 17-10 with 7:32 to play in the opening 20 minutes of action, while the Roadrunners hit just two of their eight attempts from the floor during the run.
Old Dominion possessed a 27-22 lead heading into the locker rooms at halftime, behind a half-high 14 points from Jennie Simms. Both team attempted 26 first half shots, in which ODU connected on 10 and UTSA hit eight. The Lady Monarchs held a 22-15 advantage on the boards after the first 20 minutes.
ODU out-scored UTSA 10-2 in the first 4:10 of the second half to take a 37-24 lead into the first scheduled break. The Lady Monarchs expanded its lead to 47-31 with 11:37 to play, as Old Dominion held a 30-18 advantage on the boards.
The Roadrunners cut its deficit down to 11 points (54-43) off a made Mathilde Hergott three-pointer with 6:03 to play. Old Dominion held onto a 59-45 lead with 1:55 to play before claiming a 63-49 victory over UTSA on Thursday night in the Quarterfinals of the 2015 C-USA Tournament.
NEXT UP FOR THE LADY MONARCHS
Old Dominion will get its third stab at Conference USA regular season champion Western Kentucky tomorrow at 1:30 p.m. EST for a nationally televised contest on CBS Sports Network.
On Jan. 10 in Norfolk, WKU took ODU down by a score of 76-60. Then on Western Kentucky’s Senior Day (March 7), the Lady Toppers defeated the Lady Monarchs, 71-62.
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