JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team fell at East Tennessee State, 70-60, in the non-conference finale on Wednesday evening at ETSU's J. Madison Brooks Gymnasium.
"It's just unforunate. We wanted to win this game so bad," said head coach Karen Barefoot. "We fought hard to get back in the game, but their guard play took over at the end."
Trailing 51-44 heading into the fourth quarter, Old Dominion (5-6) went on a 10-0 run to claim a 54-51 lead with 6:18 remaining. However, ETSU (8-7) ended the game on a 16-2 rally in the final 3:50 to hold on for the victory.
Jennie Simms led Old Dominion with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Destinee Young recorded her eighth double-double of the season with 10 points and a season-high 14 rebounds. Gianna Smith added 11 points and MaKayla Timmons tallied a season-high six points.
The Lady Monarchs led 12-11 at the end of the first quarter, as Simms scored the first eight points of the game for ODU. However, Simms scored one point in the remainder of the first half, as the senior guard sat for most of the second quarter due to foul trouble.
After the Lady Monarchs pulled ahead 22-15 early in the second quarter, ETSU used a 12-2 late in the quarter to head into halftime with a 32-30 lead. In the first half, ODU outrebounded ETSU, 24-21, and held a 20-14 advantage in the paint, but the Lady Monarchs committed 10 turnovers.
In the second half, the Buccaneers outscored ODU, 19-14, in the third quarter to carry a 51-44 lead into the fourth. ODU then used its 10-0 run to reclaim the lead, before the Bucs closed the game with its 16-2 run.
Overall, ODU outrebounded ETSU, 53-42. The Buccaneers shot 41.7 percent from the field, while holding Old Dominion to 32.9 percent. The ODU bench outscored ETSU's, 17-10, marking the fourth consecutive game the Lady Monarchs have held the advantage in bench points.
Tianna Tarter scored a game-high 24 points, including 22 in the second half, for ETSU, while Shamauria Bridges added 15 points.
"We have to be compsoed. We can't let the little things affect us," said Barefoot. "You can't hit a home run on every play. There were some things tonight that I will take a note of that we can do in conference."
UP NEXT
The Lady Monarchs open up Conference USA play this weekend with road contests at Rice (9-2, 0-0 C-USA) on Friday, Dec. 30, at 6 p.m. ET/5 p.m. CT and at North Texas (3-8, 0-0 C-USA) on Sunday, Jan. 1, at 4 p.m. ET/3 p.m. CT. Both games will be streamed live on CUSA.tv.