CORAL GABLES, Fla. -- The Old Dominion women's basketball team battled No. 18/16 Miami (FL) to the end, falling, 66-56, on Sunday afternoon at the Watsco Center.
"One thing we wanted to do was to be tough," said head coach Karen Barefoot. "We wanted to show a lot of grit and we wanted to battle them on the boards, and we outrebounded them. We fought hard. We played hard."
Old Dominion (3-3) was led by Jennie Simms, who tallied a game-high 24 points to go along with five rebounds, three assists and three steals. Destinee Young recorded her fifth double-double of the season with 12 points and 13 boards, while freshman Manaya Jones, in her first career start, fell just short of a double-double with nine points and nine rebounds.
Miami (7-1) opened the game with a 10-0 run in the first three minutes of play, but the Lady Monarchs responded with an 8-0 rally and went on to outscore the Hurricanes 25-13 for the remainder of the first half.
Trailing 16-12 at the end of the first, ODU outscored Miami, 13-7, in the second quarter to carry a 25-23 lead into halftime. In the first half, ODU forced 11 Miami turnovers and held the Hurricanes to 28 percent shooting, while also outrebounding Miami, 21-19.
The Hurricanes opened the second half with a 15-6 burst to take a 38-31 lead with three minutes remaining in the third quarter. The Lady Monarchs closed the gap to three at 43-40 at the end of the quarter, but Miami again rallied with a 14-4 run to take a 13-point lead with under five minutes remaining.
ODU closed the gap to as little as seven in the final minute, but the Hurricanes would hold on for the victory.
Overall, ODU shot 38.2 percent from the field, while holding the Hurricanes to 37.9 percent shooting. ODU also outrebounded Miami, 39-37. Jessica Thomas led Miami with 21 points and Keyona Hayes added 18 points and seven rebounds.
UP NEXT
Old Dominion returns to Norfolk to face former CAA foe VCU on Friday, Dec. 9, at 7 p.m. at the Ted Constant Center. Tickets are available for purchase here.