KATY, Texas – The Old Dominion women's basketball team scored 17-unanswered points in the second quarter en route to a 59-45 win over Texas Tech on Saturday in the second game of the Van Chancellor Classic. The Monarchs (4-2) handed the Lady Raiders (5-1) their first loss of the season while also collecting another win against a Power 5 opponent.
"Our defending, rebound and running mentality has carried us through our last two games," head coach DeLisha Milton-Jones said. "It was a hard-fought, ugly, grind-it-out battle. They made a run in the second half, but we were able to regroup and hit shots and get good looks again."
Saturday's win was ODU's second over a Power 5 opponent this season. The Monarchs previously knocked off Auburn 57-44 on Nov. 14. Old Dominion had not won multiple games against Power 5 opponents in the same season since doing so during the 2014-15 campaign.
Old Dominion led 15-10 after the first quarter before seizing control over the next 10 minutes. The Monarchs outscored TTU 22-4 in the second, holding the Lady Raiders scoreless through the final 6:07 of the first half and went into the intermission on a 17-0 run.
ODU was just as sharp on the offensive end, making seven of its 12 shot attempts (.583) in the second quarter, including a 2-of-3 showing from 3-point range. Mariah Adams and Ajah Wayne combined for 14 points on 4-of-6 shooting in the second quarter for the Monarchs. Wayne punctuated the first half in style with a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the left wing, her third made trey of the half.
After 20 minutes of play, ODU led 37-14 and was executing on both the offensive and defensive ends with precision. The Monarchs shot 44.8 percent in the opening half, made five of their eight attempts from deep and assisted on nine of their 13 first-half baskets. On the other end, the Lady Raiders made just five of their first 19 attempts from the floor and were 0-of-6 from 3-point range in the first half with 10 turnovers.
"We want our players to be tenacious and relentless and stingy on the defensive end, and when we do that, we can have a team disturbed," Milton-Jones said.
TTU flipped the script in the second half, eventually cutting the deficit to single digits. That turnaround began in the third quarter, where the Lady Raiders shot 70 percent from the field and outscored the Monarchs 19-12. Texas Tech scored 12-straight points to make it a 45-31 game with 2:06 left in the third quarter. Iggy Allen stopped the run with a jumper, and Mariah Adams followed a pair of TTU free throws with bucket inside the final minute to make the score 49-33 heading into the fourth.
Texas Tech's charge continued into the fourth quarter. The Lady Raiders netted the first eight points of the period to pull to within eight at 49-41 with 6:19 on the clock. Aziah Hudson gave control back to the Monarchs with a 3-pointer on the next possession, pushing ODU's lead back to double figures. ODU forced a miss on defense before Allen pulled up in the paint for a basket with 5:24 to go. The Monarchs turned over TTU on the ensuing possession, setting up another trey from Hudson to make it 57-41 with 4:43 to go and killing any chances of a Lady Raider comeback.
"Hudson hit a big three for us, and we were hungry for her to find the bottom of the net," Milton-Jones said. "Her 3-point shooting ability opens things up for us tremendously."
For the game, the Monarchs shot just under 40 percent, making 23 of their 58 attempts while going 7-of-16 (.438) from long range. TTU went 15-of-39 from the field and just 1-of-10 from deep. The Lady Raiders entered Saturday shooting 36.6 percent from 3-point range and drilling 5.2 treys per game.
"We had to be there on that catch because they're that good of a shooting team," Milton-Jones said.
Wayne led all players with 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting with three 3-pointers, seven rebounds and three steals. Joining Wayne in double figures for the Monarchs were Adams and Allen. Adams filled the box score with 14 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four steals – setting or matching a career high in all four categories. Allen made a pair of 3-pointers and finished the game with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
ODU turned over Texas Tech 17 times on Saturday, scoring 15 points off those turnovers. The Monarchs also won the rebounding battle (35-31) and are 4-0 this season and 11-3 under Milton-Jones when doing so.
The Monarchs wrap up the Van Chancellor Classic on Sunday when they place Stetson at noon ET. The Hatters are also 2-0 at the event with wins over UL-Monroe (70-37) and Saint Joseph's (51-48).