SAN ANTONIO, Texas -- The Old Dominion Lady Monarchs shot just 33.9 percent from the floor and fell to the UTSA Roadrunners, 70-67, on Saturday afternoon at the Convocation Center in San Antonio, Texas. ODU fell to 12-16 overall and 8-8 in Conference USA play, while UTSA improved to 9-18 overall and 5-12 in the league.
Jennie Simms led ODU with a season-high 39 points and five rebounds, while Destinee Young chipped in eight points and five boards.
Both teams opened the game a little slow on the offensive end, but the Lady Monarchs were the ones to hold the 8-7 advantage. On the defensive side of things, ODU held the Roadrunners to 3-of-13 shooting, while the Lady Monarchs went 3-for-6 with two three-pointers. The two teams traded baskets after the media timeout and ODU held on to the one-point lead at the end of the period. The Lady Monarchs hit an efficient 5-of-11 shots, but turned the ball over seven times allowing the Roadrunners to score seven points.
UTSA took the lead (15-14) at the 9:21 mark in the second period, but the Lady Monarchs responded with a 10-0 run and forced the Roadrunners into five turnovers to take a nine-point lead (24-15) by the 6:15 mark in the quarter. During that run, ODU held UTSA scoreless for a little over three minutes. Two quick three-pointers by UTSA pulled the Roadrunners within one point (26-25) and forced ODU to call the timeout. UTSA continued to attack and held a one-point advantage over the Lady Monarchs until Simms drilled a three-pointer with 18 seconds of the clock. Alana Heard closed the period with a jumper in the paint with just a second left on the clock to tie the game at 33-33 at the intermission.
Simms led the Lady Monarchs with 16 first half points to go along with her four rebounds. Young chipped in four points and four rebounds for ODU. UTSA shot 43.8 percent from the floor, while ODU registered a 41.7 shooting percentage.
The first three minutes of the third period proved to be a defensive battle, as neither team could quite pull away for the comfortable lead. With the game tied a 37-37 at the 7:07 mark, UTSA put together a 5-0 run on 4-of-4 shooting to pull ahead 42-37 by with five minutes left in the period. The Roadrunners increased their lead to as many as eight points (49-41) over the final three minutes and entered the final quarter with a six-point advantage over the Lady Monarchs.
UTSA held ODU scoreless for the first 3:41 of the fourth quarter, while getting baskets from Crystal Chidomere and Akunna Elonu to go ahead by 10 points (59-49) with 6:22 left to play and force ODU to call a timeout. The Lady Monarchs attempted just two shots during that time and turned the ball over four times. A Simms jumper with 5:27 on the clock breathed live back into the Lady Monarchs’ offense and sparked a 7-3 spurt to pull within six points with 3:25 left to play. Despite Simms scoring nine points in the final 1:20, the Lady Monarchs could not overcome the 10 points deficit the team faced in the fourth quarter and fell to the Roadrunners, 70-67.
For the game, ODU shot 33.9 percent from the floor (19-56), while UTSA went 25-for-53 for a 47.2 shooting percentage. The Lady Monarchs held a slight 35-32 advantage on the boards, but were forced into 21 turnovers on the day. UTSA also outscored ODU 39-12 in bench points.
Chidomere paced UTSA with 16 points and four rebounds, while Elonu added 16 points and seven boards. Sara Anastasieska finished the game with 11 points on 5-for-5 shooting and Carlie Heineman added 12 points off the bench.
UP NEXT FOR ODU
The Lady Monarchs are back in action next weekend at the Ted Constant Center. ODU will take on North Texas on Thursday at 7:00 p.m. and Rice on Saturday at 1:00 p.m. Saturday will also mark senior day for LaQuanda Younger.
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