NORFOLK, Va. -- Old Dominion came from behind with a big third quarter to defeat the Marshall Thundering Herd in Conference USA action on Saturday afternoon at the Ted Constant Center. The Lady Monarchs improved to 12-14 overall and 8-6 in league action, while Marshall fell to 16-9 overall and 6-8 in C-USA play.
Jennie Simms led ODU with 22 points and 12 rebounds for her first double-double of the season. She also added six assists and two steals to her stat line. Destinee Young also put up a double-double, finishing with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Keyana Brown chipped in 12 points on four three pointers. Ije Ajemba and Gianna Smith also finished in double digits with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
ODU fell behind Marshall early, 9-2, prompting the Lady Monarchs to call a timeout at the 5:44 mark. The Thundering Herd went on a 7-0 run during that time, while holding ODU to 1-for-6 from the field. Old Dominion came out of the timeout with a 13-7 run, featuring back-to-back three-pointers from Brown, to pull within one point (16-15) with 33 seconds left in the quarter. Marshall got a three from Leah Scott with 14 seconds on the clock to hold 19-15 lead heading into the second period.
The Thundering Herd opened the second period with a 6-0 run over the first 3:13 to increase their lead double-digits (27-16) for the first time in the game. Two of four Marshall buckets were off a fast break, which again forced the Lady Monarchs to call their second timeout of the contest. ODU put together a 6-0 spurt following the break to pull within five (27-22), this time forcing Marshall to call the 30-second timeout. With 44 seconds on the clock the Lady Monarchs trailed by eight points, but two steals by Rhaven Kemp in the final nine seconds of the half brought ODU within four points at the intermission. Old Dominion also held Marshall to 1-of-5 shooting in the final 3:30.
Young led the Lady Monarchs in the first half with six points and eight rebounds, while Smith added six points and two boards. ODU shot 36.7 percent from the floor, while the Thundering Herd made 14-of-30 shots for 46.7 percent.
ODU forced Marshall into a turnover on its first possession of the third quarter and then scored seven unanswered points to take the lead (37-34) for the first time in the game at the 7:59 mark. The Lady Monarchs held Marshall to just six points, while scoring 13 of their own to hold a 43-40 edge by the third quarter media timeout with 4:24 on the clock. Old Dominion brought the energy coming out of the media and went on a 15-4 run over the final 4:24 to increase its lead to 14 points (58-44) heading into the final period. Brown once again highlighted the run with back-to-back threes.
The Lady Monarchs continued to attack offensively, but also picked up the defense and held the Thundering Herd scoreless for a little over four minutes in the fourth quarter to expand their lead to as many as 25 points. Simms led ODU in the final 10 minutes with 10 points and seven rebounds.
Despite shooting below 40 percent in the first half, the Lady Monarchs finished with a 44.6 shooting percentage (25-56). The Thundering Herd dropped below 40 percent after going 14-of-30 during the first half to finish with a 39.7 shooting percentage (23-58) on the night. Old Dominion outrebounded Marshall, 44-29, and forced the Thundering Herd into 15 turnovers on the night, which included nine steals.
Taylor Porter led Marshall with 13 points, while Talequia Hamilton added 12 points and four rebounds. Leah Scott and Shayna Gore also chipped in 10 points apiece.
UP NEXT FOR ODU
The Lady Monarchs will be back in action in Texas next week, as the team travels to UTEP on Thursday and UTSA on Saturday. UTEP is currently first in the league with a 13-1 conference record and a 22-2 mark overall. The Miners are also receiving votes in both the Associated Press and USA Today Coaches Poll. UTSA is in 12th place in the conference standings with a 4-10 record and an 11-14 mark overall.
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